‘Dangerous’ Spanish wine seized by Chinese officials

As many as 2,500 bottles of imported Spanish wine have been destroyed by officials at the Xiamen port in China after being found to contain dangerously high levels of iron.

Website What’s On Xiamen reported that the Haicang Inspection and Quarantine Bureau checked samples of the wine and found iron levels in some products reached up to 50% above the maximum permitted levels.

The wines could have “wrought havoc” on a person’s health, according to reports from the Xiamen Port, as excess iron can result in diseases such as cirrhosis, liver cancer, cardiac arrhythmias and diabetes.

Reports indicate that the bureau destroyed the 375 cartons of unqualified products, which in total weighed 1.7 tons. This is first time that imported wine with high levels of iron content has been detected in the Port of Xiamen.

On the other hand, this is not the first incidence of contaminated wine being found in China. In December 2010, 5,000 bottles of wine were seized from shop shelves in the country after the discovery of chemical additives in the wine.

In August last year, the Chinese financial magazine The Securities Market Weekly reported that 10 wine products from three Chinese wine makers were found containing excess amounts of the pesticide residues carbendazim and metalaxyl.

And earlier this year, Cognac from Camus, Frapin and Remy Martin were found to contain excessive toxic plasticisers, which at 30 milligrams per kg, is far above the maximum amount of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) allowed in China (1.5 milligrams per kg).