Thousands of boxes of ice cream made with imported ingredients were contaminated with COVID-19 inside a factory in China.
Government officials made the discovery at the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company in north China – but not before a handful were sold to markets.
Contaminated
Sky News broke the news and reported that the contaminated products contained milk powered from New Zealand and whey protein from Ukraine.
All 1,662 employees are in quarantine, according to reports.
Of the ice cream boxes investigated, almost 5000 were contaminated and 935 of those had been handed to a market due for sale.
COVID-19 outbreak
65 boxes had already been sold in markets in Tianjin, Sky News confirmed. Customers who bought the product were told to report changes in their health to their communities.
A virologist told Sky News it was likely the virus survived because of its fat content and low temperature.
Cause for concern
In the story, Dr. Stephen Griffin added: “Of course, any level of contamination is not acceptable and always a cause for concern.
“But the chances are that this is the result of an issue with the production plant and potentially down to hygiene at the factory.
“We probably don’t need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus.”
COVID-19 and a plant-based diet
A number of studies have found that more people are turning to a plant-based diet due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, research shows that almost 50 percent of Americans have started eating a more plant-based diet as a result.
