A recent recall of one of Weilong's snack products in the Japanese market has sparked concern in the market.

According to reports, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issued food recall information RCL202402312 on September 14th, recalling a Chinese-made spicy flavored chili bar. This is the spicy bar is Weilong production of “Weilong Qin Zui Shao”, the spicy bar because of the detection of Japan's banned food additives TBHQ, had to be recalled in Japan. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Weilong said publicly to the media on October 15 that the product complies with national safety standards, safety compliance, consumers can eat with peace of mind. According to the announcement, the recalled products have a shelf life of five months, a production date after May 7, 2024, and a sales date from May 21 to August 23rd.

From Weilong's official website, it was found that the company regularly uploads test reports on its products, and in the test report uploaded this year about the pro-beak burnt products, the TBHQ content of the products sent for testing were in line with the requirements.

According to China's National Standard for Food Safety - Standard for the Use of Food Additives (GB 2760-2014), TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone) is an antioxidant that can be used in 12 categories of food such as deep-fried noodle products, mooncakes, and cookies, with a maximum limit of 0.2g/kg.

However, according to the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), TBHQ is categorized as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. This means that although there are no conclusive human epidemiological studies proving its carcinogenicity, high doses of TBHQ have been found to be associated with carcinogenicity in animal experiments, and some studies have shown that TBHQ can cause DNA damage. Therefore, some countries in the EU and Japan require that TBHQ should not be detected in food.