Walmart China fruit display

Authorities in Shenzhen are investigating claims that a Walmart China store has violated food safety regulations.

An anonymous Walmart China employee has released a video filmed at Walmart's Shenzhen branch, claiming produce was sold past its use-by date, reports Reuters. The video shows rice infested with worms as well as cooking oil as that the voiceover says is as “black as soy sauce” and expired meat.

Walmart has told Reuters that it is launching its own investigation of the claims, and has yet to find any evidence of food safety regulations being violated. The US retail giant has also said that Chinese authorities have yet to verify the claims.

The Chinese state media agency, Xinhua, has reported that the Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervisory Authority were testing meat and oil samples taken from the store, but the results of its investigation have yet to be released.

The video comes after claims earlier this year that Walmart was selling donkey meat tainted with fox meat, and follows the release of footage taken at several food chains, including McDonalds and Yum Brands, accusing the foreign-owned food chains of poor meat-handling practices.

The accusation comes less than two months after the US-based retail giant announced it would triple its investment in food safety to US$48m over the next two years.