The coronavirus was found on ice cream produced in eastern China, prompting a recall of cartons from the same batch, according to the government.
The Daqiaodao Food Co., Ltd. in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, was sealed and its employees were being tested for the coronavirus, a city government statement said. There was no indication anyone had contracted the virus from the ice cream.
The contaminated ice cream caused Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company to dump 2,089 boxes of the product, although officials believe more than double that amount — 4,836 boxes — has been contaminated, Sky News reported.
More than half the total boxes had already been distributed for sale when the positive tests were discovered. Market regulation authorities in other provinces outside Tianjin where the ice cream was sent were notified of the issue, and customers who may have purchased the product are being told to report their health to community officials.
According to the report, 1,662 employees were tested at the company Thursday and were quarantining.
Meanwhile, China on Sunday reported 109 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, two-thirds of them in a northern province that close to national capital Beijing, though no deaths have been reported.
