CHINA – Two New Lean Pork Drugs Detected in Checks – June 08, 2011

SHANGHAI, CHINA – Two new chemicals with the same function as clenbuterol hydrochloride – an illegal drug used to produce lean pork – were detected in recent food safety checks, local watchdogs said yesterday.

Salbutamol and ractopamine were found in 5 per cent of pork products, while clenbuterol was detected in 1 percent of samples, officials from the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said yesterday.

ShanghaiDaily.com reports that local authorities have intensified checks and established a blacklist of farms feeding the chemicals to pigs and banning them from the Shanghai market.

Ingesting large quantities of these slimming drugs can damage people’s hearts, with fatal consequences.

Pork tainted with clenbuterol substitutes was found during self-checks by abattoirs and wet markets and in government spot checks.

“The new chemicals are replacements for clenbuterol and are being fed to pigs to keep their meat lean,” said Gu Zhenhua, director of Shanghai FDA’s food supervision department.

“Thanks to new technology, since the beginning of the year we can perform instant checks for these chemicals and know the results within 20 minutes,” Mr Zhenhua said.

Previously, laboratory tests took 48 hours, he said.

“Any local pig farms found feeding pigs slimming drugs will be reported to the police immediately, and if the farms are in other regions, we will inform the food safety authorities and police there,” Mr Zhenhua said.

Pig farmers who feed their stock slimming chemicals face up to seven years in prison. The punishment is more severe if the practice results in death or severe injury among consumers.

Shanghai residents consume about 3 million pigs a year. About 20 per cent come from local pig farms, while the remainder are from areas including Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Shandong provinces.

Shanghai has established a computerized system covering all 16 abattoirs and eight wholesale markets which tracks each pig through the sales and processing chain.

Information ThePigSite News Desk

SOUTH KOREA – Korea Permits Toxin Banned in China – March 30, 2011

SOUTH KOREA – China is cracking down on two chemical additives used illegally on pig farms – and threatening to execute farmers who break the law banning their use.

But one of the dangerous chemicals is legal in Korea and fed to some domestic pigs, Korea Joongang Daily reports. The chemical, ractopamine, can cause respiratory problems or kidney malfunction in humans, even if only small amounts are ingested.

More than 150 countries prohibit the use of ractopamine, including Taiwan, Malaysia and the European Union, although 20 countries allow it, including the United States, Australia, and Brazil.

“Because many countries currently prohibit the use of ractopamine, the Korean government should reconsider [the chemical’s] safety,” said Lee Mun-han, a professor at Seoul National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

On 15 March, the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) reported that a certain kind of lean pork marketed under the term “Genmijeo” was found to contain two hazardous chemicals, clenbuterol and ractopamine, which Chinese hog farmers mixed into animal feed.

The chemicals were banned in China in 2002.

Health officials say clenbuterol causes muscle spasms or arrhythmias even in small doses. Ractopamine can affect humans even in doses as low as 0.01 parts per million.

The CCTV report didn’t cite how many pigs in China were fed the poisonous chemicals, but a CCTV reporter visited about 10 hog farms in Nanjing city and found farmers using the chemicals.

After the report, panic spread to Hong Kong, which imports much of its pork from China, and the Chinese government announced it would execute farmers using the chemicals and others involved in their trade.

The Korean government banned clenbuterol in 2006, but it has allowed the use of ractopamine since 2001.

Jo Byeong-hun, a researcher for the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, said Korea hasn’t imported any pigs from China since 2007, but some processed foods made from Chinese pork are imported.

“Starting today, we will inspect whether the processed foods contain more than the permissible amount of ractopamine,” Mr Jo said.

Information ThePigSite News Desk