Chinese quarantine authorities in the eastern city of Nanjing have seized more than 23 tonnes of frozen Irish pork that was found to be contaminated with dioxin and ordered it be returned, state media said today.
The pork was imported by a company in the nearby city of Suzhou in October, the official Xinhua news agency said.
"Inspectors sealed the pork and ordered the company to send it back," the report added.
China banned the import of Irish pork last month following Dublin's order to recall domestically produced pork products because of contamination with dioxin, which in some forms and concentrations, and with long exposure, can cause cancer.
Irish pork was pulled from shelves in up to 25 countries, although production and sale of pork approved as safe by Irish authorities restarted soon after the scare.
China has been beset by food safety scandals in the past few years, including a recent mass contamination of infant formula by the chemical melamine in which at least six babies are believed to have died and thousands made ill.
But Beijing also likes to point out this is a global issue in which China is a victim too of poor quality imports.