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Seventeen starch noodle manufacturers in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, were ordered to stop production over the weekend after claims emerged that they had been using illegal additives.

A large quantity of starch noodles were seized and will be subjected to tests following a raid by the Guangdong provincial administration of quality and technology supervision.

The starch noodles are suspected of containing illegal additives and of being made from corn instead of sweet potato, as stated in the packaging.

The 17 starch noodle producers were all located in the Daliantang Industrial Development Zone in the city's Wanjiang township.

Starch noodles are an important ingredient and a staple of Chinese cuisine. There is a great variety of noodles and they vary depending on their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation.

The latest food scandal started to come to light on Thursday when more than 5.5 tons of starch noodles that were suspected of being tainted were confiscated and their producer was put under investigation for allegedly having used black ink, industrial dye and paraffin wax to produce them in Gangkou township in the province's Zhongshan city, according to Guangzhou Daily.

Workers from that company claimed that nearly 50 tons of apparently tainted starch noodles had been produced by the firm and had entered the market since it started business in February.

Workers said the unusual ingredients were used in an attempt to lower production costs and create fake noodles that appeared to be made of sweet potato, the report said.

Noodles made from sweet potato are more popular and therefore more expensive in stores.

The cost of producing the fake starch noodles was around 3,000 yuan ($461) a ton, while noodles made from real sweet potato would cost more than 5,000 yuan to make, the workers said.

Three executives from the company that was raided on Thursday, including the boss, were detained by police.

They reportedly told investigators that they learned how to make the fake sweet potato noodles from counterparts in Dongguan.

Guangzhou Daily said the three executives told police that they got their additives and corn from the companies in Dongguan.

The claim led provincial quality authorities to send the teams to inspect the starch noodle producers in Dongguan, where they turned up evidence to support the claims.

An official from Guangdong provincial administration of quality and technology supervision, who insisted on anonymity, pledged that the case will be fully investigated and said the authority will severely punish anyone who has broken the law.

Questions:

1. What is the subject of the latest food scandal?

2. What are they accused of?

3. What kind of additives were used?

Answers:

1. Starch noodles.

2. Noodle manufacturers in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, were accused of using illegal additives and of being made from corn instead of sweet potato, as stated in the packaging.

3. More than 5.5 tons of starch noodles are suspected of being tainted by black ink, industrial dye and paraffin wax.

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（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.