New DEHP woes for Moutai

High-end Chinese liquor producer Kweichow Moutai Co was accused Monday of selling liquor with excessive plasticizer (DEHP) traces that US testing groups confirmed, results analysts said are likely to deepen the gloom of the domestic liquor industry.

An anonymous domestic investor said he sent two bottles of Feitian Moutai liquor separately to two US testing laboratories, Applied Technical Services and Exova, for DEHP testing on December 11, 2012, and on Monday posted the results on xueqiu.com, a communication platform for investors.

The posted data from Exova indicated that the DEHP traces found in one of the Feitian Moutai liquors was 2.6 parts per million, almost twice the national standard of 1.5 milligrams per kilogram (1.68 parts per million).

However, some netizens questioned the motivation of the anonymous act, saying the investor may want to manipulate share prices by posting such test results, and raising doubts about the testing process, as no evidence was given of detailed purchase information about the tested liquor.

Moutai could not be reached for comment by press time.

The allegation came after the Shanghai-listed Moutai reported Friday a prediction of 50 percent year-on-year net profit growth for 2012. At closing time Monday, the share price of Moutai had fallen 5.58 percent, compared to the 2.41 percent growth of the Shanghai index.

In November 2012, investors began losing confidence in domestic alcohol firms including Moutai, Wuliangye Yibin Co and Jiugui Liquor Co, who struggled with scandals regarding excessive plasticizers in their products