(Yicai Global) June 22 -- Eight confirmed Covid-19 cases popped up at PepsiCo's potato chip factory in Beijing on June 20. Other mass infections at a Beijing wholesale market and at various food processing plants around the globe are feeding worries that the virus may be able to infiltrate human food supplies.

The cases were found in PepsiCo China’s Beijing plant in the city's Daxing district, which is also home to the Chinese capital's new second international airport. Built in 2001, the factory employs 869 and mainly turns out processed grain products, potato chips and puffed foods.

Pepsi-owned chip brand Lay’s said yesterday that coronaviruses are usually transmitted by breath or skin contact. The possibility of virus survival in the supply chain is zero because Lay’s products undergo high-temperature treatment, it said, adding that the risk of infection from a product or packaging that has been transported for several days is also remote because the survival rate of the virus that causes Covid-19 is extremely low on surfaces.

Eighty-seven close contacts had been tracked down and put in quarantine at designated places as of 6.00 p.m. on June 20, Fan Zhimin, chief public relations officer of PepsiCo China, said yesterday. The chip-making plant disinfected its dining hall, dressing rooms, workshops, washing areas, rest rooms, production lines and working areas on June 15 and June 20.

No confirmed virus cases have emerged at any bottling plants in China that produce Pepsi-Cola and other beverages, and none of those have ceased production or business, Pepsi China said in a statement.

Lay’s official flagship stores on the Taobao e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding and JD.Com have stopped sales of the chips in Beijing, but they are still available in other areas.

Lay’s entered China in 1993 and is one of New York-based PepsiCo’s major brands in the country. PepsiCo brands Lay’s, Pepsi-Cola, Mirinda and 7Up are worth over USD1 billion.

Editor: Ben Armour