Two Shenzhen lychee farms have been closed after pesticide in their fruit was found to pose an immediate danger to public health, authorities disclosed yesterday.
One of the farms, which is often visited by Hong Kong gourmets, is in Nanshan, Zhongshan, while the other, which exports its fruit to Hong Kong, is in Xitian.
The Shenzhen agriculture authority said yesterday that pesticide in lychees produced by the two farms was 30 per cent higher than the acceptable level.
This would cause immediate damage to the health of people who ate them, the authorities warned.
A spokesman for the Nanshan farm admitted there was a problem but said that it had been caused by human error. He said a staff member had mistakenly used too much pesticide, and immediately afterwards inspectors had arrived to check the plants.
The officials had warned that they would carry out another inspection today.
