Almost 10 tonnes of contaminated vegetables have been found in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi in southern China, according to the city's health bureau.
Two batches of vegetables were found to have excessive pesticide residue levels at a local wholesale market, China Daily reported.
From 9,610 kg of contaminated vegetables, food safety authorities seized 3,540 kg, but some had already been sold to vegetable dealers outside Nanning, while some had already entered the city's local market.
Over 100 vegetable safety inspectors are conducting checks in the city's markets to look for affected vegetables, according to Nanning agriculture bureau director Tang Bowen, and there have been no incidents of food poisoning.
"The toxic vegetables were imported from outside of the autonomous region. We've contacted the related dealers and made the information public, so the vegetables should be under control," Mr Tang said.
The three types of pesticides detected in the vegetables were methyl parathion, cyhalothrin and flucythrinate, all of which are poisonous, but allowed on farm produce if diluted.
Mr Tang believes the severe drought affecting China's southeast is partly to blame for the incident.
"As a result of the dry weather, pesticides on fruits and vegetables have not been diluted, leading to the higher residues," he said.
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