BANGKOK – A total of 64,671kg of durians rejected by China for being contaminated with yellow dye have been disposed of by burial, the Agriculture Department reported on Feb 6.
The Director-General of the Agriculture Department, Mr Rapeepat Chansriwong, stated that his department had tested samples of the rejected durians, confirming that the fruits were contaminated with Basic Yellow 2 (BY2) – the substance cited by China as the reason for rejecting the shipments.
BY2 is a dye that has recently drawn attention for its use in artificially enhancing the colour of durian fruit, particularly for export. It is suspected that some exporters dip the durians in the dye to make them appear more appealingly yellow.
Mr Rapeepat said the contaminated durians had been buried by department officials at the plant quarantine office at Laem Chabang deep seaport and at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint.
After detecting the contamination, China has introduced a new regulation requiring all durians exported from Thailand to undergo laboratory testing for the dye.
Mr Rapeepat also announced that the department has suspended the export licences of 26 durian wholesalers responsible for shipping the contaminated durians to China.
The exact cause of the contamination is still under investigation.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department, under the Ministry of Agriculture, will revise the export manual for durians to prevent further incidents, he added. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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