Swimmers told where they can eat safely
By Cai Wenjun |
July 14, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SWIMMERS due to take part in the 14th FINA World Championships in Shanghai were yesterday urged to dine at designated hotels and restaurants in the city to avoid food-related problems.
Shanghai Food and Drug Administration officials suggested the move in pamphlets sent to team leaders of participating countries and regions for the event which starts on Saturday.
SFDA officials said that they had received requests from some foreign teams to ship all their meat from home to eliminate any possibility of ingesting clenbuterol, a banned substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list.
Some Chinese farmers have been found to illegally feed pigs and cattle with the chemical to encourage lean meat production and foreign teams were worried their athletes might unknowingly ingest the banned substance.
Athletes detected with clenbuterol in their system could face a two-year ban from their sport.
"After we communicated with the teams and reported our strict measures on food safety, they have withdrawn their requests," said Xie Minqiang, vice director of Shanghai FDA and head of the championships' food safety department.
Strict supervision
"We have promised that all raw materials, processing and cooking procedures in designated hotels and restaurants are under strict supervision to prevent food-borne accidents and banned chemicals. All selected material suppliers are under strict and whole-course administration," Xie added.
However, he still suggested that athletes not dine outside designated eateries.
"Most meat tainted with clenbuterol is from individual farmers, not big companies," he said. "It is difficult to guarantee the safety of all meat served across the city, especially at small restaurants and streetside stalls."
A recent study by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited lab in Cologne, Germany, found that 22 of 28 travelers returning from China tested positive for low levels of clenbuterol.
"You cannot control everything you eat all around the world," FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu said in Shanghai.
SFDA officials said the city intensified food safety tests to clean up the clenbuterol problem in the first half of this year.
Their measures, highlighted on FINA's official website, included establishing a food safety monitoring department, strengthening supervision of raw ingredients in the official hotels and tightening supervision over food safety around the city.
About 93.4 percent of food undergoing spot checks in the first half passed tests, 1.2 percentage points higher than last year, said the SFDA.
There were 11,623 food safety cases in Shanghai in the first half of the year, with violators fined more than 15 million yuan (US$2.32 million) in total. There were two mass food poisoning cases in the first six months, involving 52 people. Both were much lower than the same period of last year, officials said.
Shanghai Food and Drug Administration officials suggested the move in pamphlets sent to team leaders of participating countries and regions for the event which starts on Saturday.
SFDA officials said that they had received requests from some foreign teams to ship all their meat from home to eliminate any possibility of ingesting clenbuterol, a banned substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list.
Some Chinese farmers have been found to illegally feed pigs and cattle with the chemical to encourage lean meat production and foreign teams were worried their athletes might unknowingly ingest the banned substance.
Athletes detected with clenbuterol in their system could face a two-year ban from their sport.
"After we communicated with the teams and reported our strict measures on food safety, they have withdrawn their requests," said Xie Minqiang, vice director of Shanghai FDA and head of the championships' food safety department.
Strict supervision
"We have promised that all raw materials, processing and cooking procedures in designated hotels and restaurants are under strict supervision to prevent food-borne accidents and banned chemicals. All selected material suppliers are under strict and whole-course administration," Xie added.
However, he still suggested that athletes not dine outside designated eateries.
"Most meat tainted with clenbuterol is from individual farmers, not big companies," he said. "It is difficult to guarantee the safety of all meat served across the city, especially at small restaurants and streetside stalls."
A recent study by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited lab in Cologne, Germany, found that 22 of 28 travelers returning from China tested positive for low levels of clenbuterol.
"You cannot control everything you eat all around the world," FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu said in Shanghai.
SFDA officials said the city intensified food safety tests to clean up the clenbuterol problem in the first half of this year.
Their measures, highlighted on FINA's official website, included establishing a food safety monitoring department, strengthening supervision of raw ingredients in the official hotels and tightening supervision over food safety around the city.
About 93.4 percent of food undergoing spot checks in the first half passed tests, 1.2 percentage points higher than last year, said the SFDA.
There were 11,623 food safety cases in Shanghai in the first half of the year, with violators fined more than 15 million yuan (US$2.32 million) in total. There were two mass food poisoning cases in the first six months, involving 52 people. Both were much lower than the same period of last year, officials said.
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