Imported Philippine food is for sale at a supermarket. [newsphoto]

Chinese quarantine officials have seized two tons of dried banana pieces imported from the Philippines found to contain excessive sulfur dioxide levels.

The levels reached 1,286 milligrams per kilogram, nearly 25 times the maximum stipulated by Chinese regulations on food additives, said General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ).

The 100 boxes of banana pieces, imported by Aixiu Food Co Ltd, a Qingdao-based company, were valued at US$13,159. The goods had been sealed, and quality authorities would return them to the export country or destroy them in line with regulations.

The sulfur dioxide was the residue of sodium metabisulfite and potassium metabisulfite, which were used as decolourants and preservatives in food production.

Ingesting sulfur dioxide can cause queasiness and vomiting, and can be carcinogenic in the long term.

China's quarantine sectors have discovered unqualified imported food from the Philippines 13 times recently, including excessive cadmium in dried sleeve-fish and octopus pieces, as well as salmonella in frozen whelks, sources with the GAQSIQ said.

The GAQSIQ had informed the Philippine authorities of further measures on the safety of food exports, said the sources.

Philippine quarantine officials claimed to have found formaldehyde in China's "White Rabbit" milk candy, but they have not contacted or provided relevant data to the GAQSIQ, which had tested the Shanghai-made candy safe.

In the first half, more than 99 percent of the Chinese foods exported to the United States, the European Union and Japan were up to standard, according to the GAQSIQ.

"Food safety is a global issue which requires cooperation between governments," said Li Changjiang, chief of GAQSIQ on Friday.