In the latest food scandal to be exposed in a series of such incidents in China, authorities have seized smuggled meat worth CNY3bn ($483m), some of which dated back to the 1970's.
According to state news agency Xinhua, close to 100,000t of smuggled frozen meat, including chicken wings, beef and pork was seized from 14 provinces across China.
The authorities have busted 21 smuggling rings so far. Around 20 people have been arrested from the southern Hunan province.
While the report said that the origin of the meat was unclear, it is being speculated that most of it was first shipped to Hong Kong and then to Vietnam. Smugglers would then send the meat to China without declaring it to custom officials, or going through the required quarantine procedure.
Xinhua quoted Zhang Tao, an official who was involved in the operation in Hunan province as saying: "I almost vomited when I opened the compartment containing the smuggled feet. The putrid smell was disgusting."
China had recently toughened its food safety rules after the country was hit by a series of food scandals that ranged from donkey meat tainted with fox DNA, to milk contaminated with industrial chemical melamine that resulted in the death of at least six infants, and made almost 300,000 people fall ill in 2008.
Changsha Anti-smuggling official Yang Bo was quoted by Reuters as saying: "To save costs, smugglers often hire ordinary vehicles instead of refrigerated ones. So the meat has often thawed out several times before reaching customers."
Meanwhile, the country's food safety watchdog recently had to recall infant formula powder from three milk producers in the Shaanxi province for excessive nitrate levels.
