Ice cream factory
Ice cream factoryiStock

COVID-19 has been found on three samples of ice cream produced in eastern China, the Chinese government reported.

The samples were tested on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As a result of the findings, cartons of ice cream from the affected batch have been recalled and the Daqiaodao Food Co., Ltd. in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, was sealed and employees sent to test for coronavirus, a government statement said.

The statement added that there is no indication anyone contracted the virus from the ice cream. So far, 700 employees have tested negative, the Global Times reported.

Most of the batch, which included 29,000 cartons of ice cream, had not yet been sold. However, 390 cartons are being tracked down and authorities notified of sales to their localities.

Ingredients used in the ice cream included milk powder from New Zealand and whey powder from Ukraine, the government added.

China has been citing Italian research that revealed the possibility that COVID-19 was present in Europe months before China officially reported its first case, positing that the virus actually originated beyond China, and suggesting that it entered the country via contaminated frozen food or athletes participating in the World Military Games in Wuhan in October of 2019.