March 26, 2009
After a random test revealed that 19 pigs out of a shipment of 149 were contaminated by harmful additives, food safety authorities decided to cull the whole herd.
The big photo on the front page of today’s Southern Metropolis Daily shows enforcement personnel using high-voltage electricity to kill pigs in Guangzhou yesterday.
The article uses the term “shouroujing” (瘦肉精, “lean meat essence”) to refer to the additive. China Daily identifies the chemical as clenbuterol hydrochloride, a respiratory drug that has the side effect of increasing the muscle to fat ratio.
Last week, the newspaper reported that six pig farmers were arrested for administering clenbuterol and Ractopamine, a leanness supplement approved by the USFDA and a number of other countries but banned in China, to their pigs.
On February 21, the newspaper reported that 67 people fell ill after eating pork products which tested positive for the additives. Some victims said they had eaten pork liver, which usually contains a higher concentration of the chemicals than meat.
- Southern Metropolis Daily (Chinese): Problem pigs electrocuted in Guangzhou, Six pig farmers detained
- China Daily: Market rejects ‘tainted’ livestock