Society

China detains 96 in fighting pork contamination

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-12 20:02

BEIJING- Chinese police said Tuesday they have detained 96 people for producing, selling or using clenbuterol and confiscated over 400 kg of the fat-burning drug in central Henan Province after a tainted pork scandal was exposed last month.

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Ma Weiya, a senior official with the Ministry of Public Security, told a press conference on Tuesday that the police also destroyed one production site as well as two distribution networks of the illegal food additive.

Ma said the country launched a one-year crackdown on illegal additives in pig feed proven toxic to humans, symbolizing a new push toward food security in China.

According to a previous statement issued by the government, around 18 tons of pig feed suspected of containing clenbuterol were confiscated by authorities during a province-wide check from March 15 to 23 in Henan Province, where the ham-producer Shuanghui is based.

Shuanghui Group's subsidiary in Jiyuan, a city in Henan, was exposed on March 15 for using clenbuterol-tainted pork tainted in its products.

Clenbuterol is fed to pigs to stop them from accumulating fat. It is banned from being added pig feed in China because it is poisonous to people when ingested.