Punishment for officials involved in pork scare
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
March 19, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THREE animal husbandry heads in central China's Henan Province have been suspended and nearly 30 other officials punished following pigs testing positive for a chemical poisonous to humans, the provincial government said yesterday.
And China's largest meat processor has sacked four senior executives over the scandal.
Henan-based Shuanghui Group dismissed the officials of subsidiary Jiyuan Shuanghui Food Co, including the general manager, holding them responsible for clenbuterol being found in Jiyuan's products.
The chiefs of animal husbandry bureaus in Mengzhou City, Qinyang City and Wenxian County were relieved of their duties after positive tests on 52 pigs, said Liu Xuezhou, a member of the provincial food safety leadership group.
Another 27 government officials in the province are in police custody, sacked or suspended, said Liu, who is also chief of the province's health department.
Henan tested 1,512 pigs on nine pig farms suspected of having used feed laced with clenbuterol.
Random tests are to be conducted among the province's more than 1.63 million pigs.
Liu said meat products containing clenbuterol will be tracked down and prevented from entering the market.
In Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, 264 pigs at the Xingwang Slaughterhouse were destroyed after pigs believed to be from Mengzhou City tested positive, said Hua Wen, deputy chief of the city's food and drug supervisory bureau.
Authorities picked 20 out of the 264 for tests on Wednesday, and all were positive.
Hua said 600 kilograms of pork at a nearby market was also destroyed.
Other provinces, including Gansu and Shanxi, have strengthened management and monitoring of pig and pork supply chains to prevent products tainted with clenbuterol from being sold.
Clenbuterol, known to Chinese as "lean meat powder," is banned in China yet continues to pop up in the food chain, laced into animal feed by farmers eager for more profits.
Adding clenbuterol to feed can reduce a pig's body fat and make the skin pinker, giving the appearance of fresher meat for a longer time.
The Ministry of Commerce has sent a team to Henan Province to help with investigations. Its Henan office has urged Jiyuan Shuanghui to suspend production and launch in-house investigations.
Similar measures should be implemented at Xingwang, the ministry said.
The ministry also issued an urgent circular requiring its offices to conduct thorough examinations of local slaughterhouses and strict implementation of quality inspection systems.
And China's largest meat processor has sacked four senior executives over the scandal.
Henan-based Shuanghui Group dismissed the officials of subsidiary Jiyuan Shuanghui Food Co, including the general manager, holding them responsible for clenbuterol being found in Jiyuan's products.
The chiefs of animal husbandry bureaus in Mengzhou City, Qinyang City and Wenxian County were relieved of their duties after positive tests on 52 pigs, said Liu Xuezhou, a member of the provincial food safety leadership group.
Another 27 government officials in the province are in police custody, sacked or suspended, said Liu, who is also chief of the province's health department.
Henan tested 1,512 pigs on nine pig farms suspected of having used feed laced with clenbuterol.
Random tests are to be conducted among the province's more than 1.63 million pigs.
Liu said meat products containing clenbuterol will be tracked down and prevented from entering the market.
In Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, 264 pigs at the Xingwang Slaughterhouse were destroyed after pigs believed to be from Mengzhou City tested positive, said Hua Wen, deputy chief of the city's food and drug supervisory bureau.
Authorities picked 20 out of the 264 for tests on Wednesday, and all were positive.
Hua said 600 kilograms of pork at a nearby market was also destroyed.
Other provinces, including Gansu and Shanxi, have strengthened management and monitoring of pig and pork supply chains to prevent products tainted with clenbuterol from being sold.
Clenbuterol, known to Chinese as "lean meat powder," is banned in China yet continues to pop up in the food chain, laced into animal feed by farmers eager for more profits.
Adding clenbuterol to feed can reduce a pig's body fat and make the skin pinker, giving the appearance of fresher meat for a longer time.
The Ministry of Commerce has sent a team to Henan Province to help with investigations. Its Henan office has urged Jiyuan Shuanghui to suspend production and launch in-house investigations.
Similar measures should be implemented at Xingwang, the ministry said.
The ministry also issued an urgent circular requiring its offices to conduct thorough examinations of local slaughterhouses and strict implementation of quality inspection systems.
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