Nongfu Spring, China's leading beverage and bottled water producer hit by high-arsenic-level accusations, said yesterday it had been exonerated by an all-clear report from the national quality watchdog.

Zhong Shanshan, chairman of Nongfu Spring, questioned safety inspection procedures in Haikou, in southern China's Hainan Province, at a press conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where the company is based.

Zhong hinted that the whole incident may have been "manipulated."

On November 24, the Haikou Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau issued a consumption caution, saying Nongfu Spring's 30 percent vegetable and fruit mixed juice and C100 grapefruit juice contained arsenic exceeding allowable standards.

The bureau also said the same problem happened on peach juice produced by the Taiwan-based Uni-President (China) Investment Co.

Excessive arsenic in the human body can lead to vomiting, dizziness, indigestion and even death.

Checks passed

Nongfu Spring said a report from the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in Beijing showed that its beverages passed 22 checklists after examining six selected samples among 6,000 bottles.

"The content of arsenic in our juices are within the national limits," Zhong said yesterday.

He said the company had yet to receive any written report from the Haikou bureau regarding the inspections in question, "which is extremely unusual."

"Saying our products contain excessive arsenic is purely a mistake," said Zhong.

"The arsenic scandal has caused a huge impact both domestically and internationally over the past seven days."

Zhong also cast doubts on the overall efficiency of the Haikou bureau.

"I believe someone behind the scenes has bribed individuals in the administrative bureau, taken advantage of loopholes in legal system and spread negative and incorrect information through the media," he said.

Results confirmed

An official from the Haikou bureau said its previous inspection results were confirmed by Hainan's entry-exit inspection and quarantine agency, according to media reports.

Uni-President issued a statement yesterday, saying the company and the Haikou bureau had agreed to send "suspect beverages" to a state-level inspection department in Beijing for a final check. The results would be available within two days, it said.

Nongfu Spring and Uni-President said both suspect products were made by plants in Guangzhou, in Hainan's neighboring province of Guangdong, and distributed there and in Hainan Province.

According to an online poll, 73.7 percent of surveyed Netizens said they would not buy the products in question.

In Shanghai, most of the produce made by the two companies is still available on shelves and sales remain stable, local major supermarkets said yesterday.

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