November 12, 2008
            

According to ZhongXin News Agency, on November 6, on a press conference to address the issue of melamine tainted eggs, deputy director of Hubei Animal Husbandry Bureau Chen Hongsong remarked that the province's egg prices had plunged a whopping 40 percent and its egg inventory expanded to 10,000 tonnes in October because of the scandal.

Hubei exports 600 million eggs annually, supplying about 50 percent of China's egg exports and 60 percent Hong Kong's eggs, according to Mr. Chen.

Mr. Chen said preliminary investigation revealed that the contaminated eggs from Hubei Jing Shan Peng Chang Agricultural Product Co. Ltd were purchased from a nearby backyard farm while those of Hubei Jingzhou Shuangkang Poultry Breeding and Processing Pte Ltd were from Zhuanghe County, Liaoning.

The eggs from these two companies were tested positive with melamine by Hong Kong authority on October 28 and 29 respectively.