Local customs in China denied seizing supposed 40-year-old frozen meat, known as "zombie meat," during this year's sweeping crack down on smuggled meat.
An official surnamed Yang from the customs of Changsha in Hunan Province and another official surnamed Fang from the publicity department at the customs of Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, told the Global Times on Friday that they neither heard about "zombie meat" nor seized meat which has been frozen for decades.
The "zombie meat" claims recently triggered public uproar following a report released by the Xinhua News Agency on June 23, which said that over 100,000 tons of smuggled frozen meat, worth over 3 billion yuan ($483 million), was seized and a customs official from Guangxi seized a batch of meat that dated back to the 1970s.
Another Xinhua report released on June 30 said that Nanning police also confiscated some frozen chicken feet produced in 1967 and some smuggled frozen meat was reserved food during WWII. However, the reports, which only cited vague sources, have been questioned and both Changsha and Nanning customs have denied seizing such aged meat.
China Food and Drug Administration announced Sunday that they have called for local authorities to be on the lookout for smuggled frozen meat after a large amount of smuggled meat, some of which had been frozen for four to five years, was seized by customs.
A reporter surnamed Hong from the Beijing Sci-Tech Report Thursday accused the Xinhua reports of fabrication, pointing out that the sources of the Xinhua report were vague and the "frozen chicken feet" mentioned in one of the two reports came from a report two years ago. The Nanning Public Security Bureau told The Beijing News Saturday that they did not find any smuggled chicken feet stamped with packing dates going back to 1967.
Hong's accusation quickly triggered a storm of discussion overnight with many Netizens slamming the Xinhua reporter, Li Dan, for making up the story.
But Li denied fabricating the news Sunday and claimed that she interviewed authorities including the anti-smuggling bureau and verified core facts twice before releasing her story. She did not specify the details due to requests by her interviewee.
She said that Wei Bo, director of Guangxi Food and Drug Administration, told the Southern Weekly in February that "the beef has been frozen for decades." She also quoted Yang Bo, deputy director of Changsha customs anti-smuggling bureau, as saying that "some meat was reserved food for strategic storage purposes."
The response triggered public debates over its authenticity, with about 2 million netizens discussing this topic on Sina Weibo. Some cold chain supply experts said that it would not be economic to spend a large amount of money to preserve the meat for decades. "Her response did not provide new evidence and I still don't think the 'zombie meat' claim is true," Hong told the Global Times Sunday.