SHANGHAI Juang Industrial Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Juang Investment Co. Ltd. were fined 1.2 million yuan (US$177,000) by the city’s market regulator for operating substandard vending machines that produce freshly squeezed orange juice, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Saturday.

    Several parts of the vending machines, which are in direct contact with the food, were reported for falling short of national food safety standards, said the market watchdog.

    Despite orange juice being an acidic food, the catcher parts of the machines were made of aluminium alloys and lacked an organic coating.

    According to national food safety standards, in metal materials and products, aluminium and aluminium alloys, and copper and copper alloys, without organic coatings shall not come into contact with acidic food.

    All of the vending machines’ catcher parts were covered with organic coatings by the two companies during the investigation.

    The two companies were also found to have failed to operate their businesses in accordance with the food business license.

    When the case was uncovered, a total of 59 such vending machines had been put into operation and 79,938 cups of orange juice had been sold in Shenzhen, with a sales volume of 1.2 million yuan, according to the Daily.

    The companies have been ordered to pay a fine according to the relevant laws. The fine will be increased by 3 percent each day if payment is delayed.

    (Zhang Yu)