China destroys 20 tons of Spanish oranges that failed quality standards
Quarantine inspectors in Tianjin, China threw over 20 tons of oranges and lemons imported from Spain into a pit to be destroyed on Tuesday.
The 2,000 boxes of citrus fruit, worth an estimated 14,000 euros ($15,514), failed to meet quality inspection standards, said local reports. They had entered China via Tianjin Port, and were intended to make their way through the rest of the country.
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Officials in Tianjin said some of the fruit had come from unregistered orchards, and parts of the shipments were not packed properly, and arrived covered with mildew.
Staff wore hazmat suits as they shovelled the fruit into the pit, which had to be destroyed in that fashion in order to prevent possible outbreaks of the Mediterranean fruit fly, said inspectors.
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Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
