The Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau destroyed or returned a total of 255.9 tons of imported substandard snacks in the first 8 months of the year.

Zhou Jun, director of the food department with Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, said the substandard imported snacks were inspected and found to contain excessive additives and more than the set standards of microbes.

The value of the imported snacks that were destroyed or returned is estimated to be more than $607,000, Zhou told a press conference in this Guangdong provincial capital on Tuesday afternoon.

"The substandard snacks which included beverages, biscuits, cakes and nuts have come from 24 nations and regions, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Spain, the United States, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Thailand, France, Switzerland and China's Taiwan province," Zhou said.

They included 5.7 tons of cakes from France, 10.6 tons of coffee from Malaysia, 1.4 tons of chocolate from the United State, Malaysia and Britain, 2.8 tons of coffees from Vietnam and 2.5 tons of fruit juice from Spain and 316 kilogram of nuts from China's Taiwan, Australia and Turkey.

Zhou promised to further expand inspection and quarantine for imported snacks entering the province in the following months.

According to statistics from Zhou's Bureau, Guangdong province imported a total of 120,000 tons of snacks, valued at $140 million between January and August this year.