Wal-Mart has withdrawn batches of donkey meat on sale at its stores in China after the products were contaminated with fox DNA.
The US retail giant said it was considering whether to take legal action against the supplier of the meat, Dezhou Fujude Food Co.
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Wal-Mart said the contamination “appears to be an isolated incident to select stores in China”.
It added it was “deeply sorry” and would look to shore up its sourcing of meat products in China.
“We take the issue of food fraud very seriously. To this end, Walmart China is going beyond what local law requires and is adding DNA tests to its sample tests of meat products to ensure high quality and safety of the products sold in Walmart stores,” the retailer said.
The contamination is not the first time Wal-Mart has been in the spotlight in China over food safety, where sensitivity over the quality of food has been heightened by a series of scandals across the sector.
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By GlobalDataLast year, Wal-Mart removed a number of products from its shelves in China following accusations it was selling “sub-standard” food in the country.
In 2011, Wal-Mart was found to have sold conventional pork as organic pork.
In May last year, Wal-Mart outlined plans to invest CNY100m (U$16.5m) over three years to improve food safety in the country.
