Ice cream has been found to have been contaminated with COVID-19 in China as health authorities rush to trace anyone who came into contact with the batches.

Tests discovered three samples of locally produced ice cream were found to be contaminated in the Tianjin municipality, in the north-east of the country.

Some 4,836 boxes have been identified as contaminated by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, of which 2,089 have now been sealed in storage.

A further 1,812 was dispatched to other provinces and 935 entered the local market but only 65 were sold, according to China Daily.

All three samples sent to testers tested positive for the virus that has claimed the lives of over 2 million people worldwide.

Epidemiological investigations conducted so far indicate the company produced the batch of ice cream using raw materials, including milk powder imported from New Zealand and whey powder imported from Ukraine.

Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist based at the University of Leeds, said the ice cream’s positive test likely derived from human contact and was a “one-off”.

He told Sky News: “The chances are that this is the result of an issue with the production plant and potentially down to hygiene at the factory.’

That the ice cream is made with fat and is stored at cold temperatures would make it easy for the virus to have survived, he said.

But he added: “We probably don’t need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus.”