The storm over Supor's "excessive manganese" content suddenly arises
On February 16th, a report on CCTV's "Focus Interview" was like a bombshell, causing a great stir in the market and among consumers. The report pointed out that there was a problem of excessive manganese content in Supor stainless - steel cookware, and it also emphasized that excessive manganese content might lead to Parkinson's disease. This news instantly caught the wide - spread attention and concern of consumers. After all, cookware is an indispensable item in daily life, and its safety is directly related to people's physical health.
Supor issued an urgent response, emphasizing that its products comply with regulations
Just yesterday evening when public opinion was at its peak, Supor Corporation quickly issued "A Second Letter to Consumers". In this letter, Supor Corporation earnestly emphasized that the hygiene and safety of its products are guaranteed. The company stated that regarding the composition of the steel used in stainless steel cookware products, the Ministry of Health had different mandatory requirements around December 21st last year. And Supor's products fully meet the national requirements whether based on the previous standard or the subsequent one.
The stainless steel cookware produced by Supor Company uses qualified stainless steel materials that meet the relevant national standards effective at that time. That is to say, in terms of raw material selection, Supor has followed national regulations, and there is no situation of excessive manganese content. In addition, since China has not yet formulated relevant standards for the amount of manganese released, among developed countries, only Italy has relevant standards for reference.
To further prove the safety of its own products, after the CCTV program was broadcast, Supor immediately took action and commissioned the Shanghai laboratory of a German testing agency to test the relevant products again. The test results are reassuring. The manganese leaching amounts of all the tested products are lower than the relevant Italian standards. Based on these circumstances, relevant personnel of Supor urgently hope that the national functional departments can give authoritative opinions on the relevant issues as soon as possible to quell the disputes in the market and the concerns of consumers.
The market reaction varies, and the current sales situations of products differ
Supor's "quality scandal" is not the first time to break out. It attracted attention as early as last October. After the incident occurred at that time, large home appliance retailers such as Gome and Suning quickly responded by removing Supor's related products from their shelves. However, not all channels in the market took the same measures. Many supermarkets did not remove Supor cookware from their shelves.
Taking a Carrefour store as an example, many of Supor's products have not been taken off the shelves. Instead, they are promoted as the main products and placed in prominent positions in the store for sales promotions. When reporters asked the sales staff, they said they had not received any notices from relevant departments or Supor to take the products off the shelves. This situation reflects the different reactions in the market to the "excessive manganese" incident of Supor, and also makes consumers more confused when buying relevant products.
News review: The beginning of the incident and the early statement of Supor
Looking back to February 16th, CCTV's "Focus Interview" reported in detail on the situation of Wuhan Supor Cookware Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Zhejiang Supor Co., Ltd. The report pointed out that 81 models of stainless - steel utensils were unqualified, with the manganese content in the products exceeding the standard by as much as four times, and it clearly mentioned that excessive manganese content might lead to Parkinson's disease.
In response to this report, Supor issued announcements on February 18th and February 20th successively. In the announcements, Supor claimed that the stainless - steel cookware products produced by the company had undergone multiple tests by national authoritative institutions, and the precipitation amounts of various heavy metals all met the requirements of the hygienic and physical - chemical indicators in the national standards. This series of statements and responses all reflect Supor's attention to and attitude towards dealing with the "excessive manganese" incident.