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Tainted pork is latest food scandal to hit China
Posted: 17 March 2011 1812 hrs

SHANGHAI : China has been hit by a fresh food scandal after the country's largest meat processor was forced to apologise when an illegal additive was reportedly found in some of its pork products.

Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co said it had halted operations at one of its subsidiaries while authorities investigate the case, in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Wednesday, where it is listed.

In a separate statement dated Wednesday its parent Shuanghui Group expressed a "deep apology for the incident in the unit, which had troubled consumers".

The news follows the 2008 milk scandal in which a chemical was found to have been added to watered-down milk, leading to the deaths of several babies and left thousands sick.

Products marketed under Shuanghui Group's Shineway brand were produced from pigs that were fed clenbuterol, an additive that can speed up muscle building and fat burning to produce leaner pork, the reports said.

The additive, known among farmers as "lean meat powder", is banned in China because if eaten by humans it can lead to dizziness, heart palpitations and profuse sweating, the reports said.

The listed company said its shares were suspended Wednesday until official findings were released "to avoid major impact on the company's stock price".

"If it spreads to other producers, it will send shockwaves across the nation's meat industry, similar to the 2008 milk scandal," Zhao Yong, an industry analyst with Haitong Securities, told the Global Times newspaper on Thursday.

As supermarkets pulled Shineway products from their shelves, the China Meat Association tried to play down the possibility that tainted pork was widespread.

"It's only an isolated case and was only found in one Shuanghui company. It won't bring destructive damage to either the industry or Shuanghui," the industry association's spokesman, He Zhonghua, told the Global Times.

China reported 18 outbreaks of food-related clenbuterol poisoning between 1998 and 2007, according to a report on the Shanghai Food Safety website. One person died and more than 1,700 others fell ill, the website said.

The latest batch of tainted pork products was first reported by state broadcaster China Central Television earlier this week.

China's dairy industry still has yet to fully recover from the loss of trust caused by the 2008 milk scandal where melamine, normally used to make plastics, was added to watered-down milk to make it seem higher in protein.

Twenty-two dairy producers were found to have sold products laced with melamine that killed at least six babies and left nearly 300,000 others ill.

- AFP/ir

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KingLouis said:

The Anti-nuclear protest doesn't seem to work. The government still going to build more nuclear power plant. I think maybe more people will die of air pollution then radiation.

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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, meets with Japanese Ambassador to China Unichiro Niwa at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing Friday, March 18, 2011. Hu paid a visit to the embassy Friday afternoon to convey a message of condolences for the victims of last Friday's massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan.

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Chinese President Hu Jintao(R) shakes hands with Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, visiting Envoy of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, in Beijing, capital of China, March 18, 2011. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met on Friday with special envoy Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz of Saudi King Abdullah, and exchanged views on China-Saudi relations as well as the current situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) gives a statement while his Japanese counterpart Takeaki Matsumoto (R) looks on after trilateral talks at the Kyoto state guest house in Kyoto, western Japan on March 19, 2011. Japanese, South Korean and Chinese foreign ministers gathered for trilateral talks.

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A job seeker raises his hand while making a phone call as he waits in queues to enter a job fair for college students at a university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province March 19, 2011. China faces a tough balance between creating jobs and cooling inflation, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on March 14, denying that his government risks the kind of political upheaval besetting parts of the Middle East.

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CHONGQING, CHINA - MARCH 17: Shoppers purchase goods at a supermarket on March 17, 2011 in Chongqing, China. According to the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Friday, China will raise the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points from March 25.

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A woman wears a face mask along a street as the Chinese capital is hit by a sandstorm in Beijing on March 18, 2011. China -- which admitted it is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter -- has some of the globe's worst air and water quality after three decades of unrestrained growth and resulting pollution.

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Chinese tourists complain to a Japanese security guard (L) as they wait for their flights at Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, March 19, 2011, eight days after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Many foreign visitors and Japanese residents are leaving Tokyo after radiation leakage accidents at a quake-stricken nuclear power plant.

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A Chinese traveller who just returned from Japan, gets checked for radiation exposure at a hospital in Beijing March 17, 2011. The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes the spread of radiation from a quake-crippled nuclear plant in Japan remains limited and appears to pose no immediate risk to health, the WHO's China representative said on Friday. Picture taken March 17, 2011.

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Workers sample data from a radiation detector in Ganyu county, East China's Jiangsu province, March 17, 2011. Following the nuclear leakage in Japan, Jiangsu set up seven inspection stations near the coast to monitor radiation levels, which are in the normal range. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

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A firefighting robot is seen at Huaibei fire brigade, in Huaibei, East China’s Anhui province, March 17, 2011. The robot is a substitute for firefighters to put out fires at short range and discharge smoke. A tank-like device, it can be operated 150 meters away. It is the most advanced multifunctional robot firefighter in Anhui. [Photo/CFP]

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Chinese tourists complain to a Japanese security guard (L) as they wait for their flights at Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, March 19, 2011, eight days after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Many foreign visitors and Japanese residents are leaving Tokyo after radiation leakage accidents at a quake-stricken nuclear power plant.

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ToxSic said:

Perhaps it was in the respective article but what exactly were they tourists complaining about? Not enough flights out? Can't find someone? Fear of radiation and want to GTFO ASAP? Delayed/Canceled flight or mandatory plane change? Too bad it didn't say in the context.

PS. Nice firefighting robot picture.. rainbow and all. (...though it looks like it is in water-the-grass mode HAHAH xD)

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BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 18: People visit the China Golf Show 2011 at China National Convention Center on March 18, 2011 in Beijing, China. The three-day exhibition opened on Friday, hosting over 350 exhibitors representing international and domestic supplier and service providers.

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SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 19: People visit the Shanghai Spring Real Estate Market Exhibition at Shanghai Exhibition Center on March 19, 2011 in Shanghai, China. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday, home prices in most major Chinese cities continued to rise month on month in February.

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Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns wait in line to cast their votes for the Tibetan Parliamentary election at a polling station in Dharamshala on March 20, 2011. Thousands of Tibetans worldwide vote March 20 for a new leader who hopes eventually to become the new face of the struggle for freedom in China, a cause embodied for decades by the Dalai Lama.

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Anti-nuclear protest in Taipei March 20, 2011. About 2000 activists rallied on Sunday to urge the Taiwan government to shut down the three nuclear installations on the island and to stop the construction of the fourth one in reaction to the crisis at the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima that was damaged after an earthquake and tsunami. The Chinese characters on the placard reads "I love Taiwan; No nuclear disasters."

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Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou, second from right, answers to a host and hostesses during a fund-raising party for the victims of a devastative earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, Friday, March 18, 2011, in Taipei, Taiwan.

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People attend a candle light vigil for victims of the recent Japan earthquake and tsunami, organised by Greenpeace, in Hong Kong on March 20, 2011.

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A young girl looks at origami cranes, part of 5000 that were to be folded for a donation drive for victims of the recent Japan earthquake and tsunami, at a shopping plaza in Hong Kong on March 20, 2011. Folding 1000 cranes, according to Japanese tradition, will bring good luck and a wish will be granted, particually in the case of sickness and illness. Crews fighting to cool reactors at Japan's stricken nuclear plant struggled to switch partial power back on after a natural disaster that has left more than 20,000 people dead or missing. The discovery of radiation in foodstuffs in regions around the plant, and of traces of radioactive iodine in Tokyo tap water well to the southwest, compounded public anxiety but authorities said there was no danger to health.

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Victim's family members participate in a Buddhist service at the location of a tour bus crash that left fifteen people dead, Saturday, March 19, 2011 in the Bronx borough of New York. Fifteen people were killed March 12, when the bus returning to New York from Connecticut overturned and was split in two by a sign support pole.

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Customers purchase bus tickets at one of the discount bus companies in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York, Monday, March 14, 2011. About 30,000 Chinese New Yorkers per week board discount buses that take them from Chinatown to casinos.

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao answers a question during a meeting with entrepreneurs from various countries at the China Development Forum in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 21, 2011. China Premier Wen said on Monday he was optimistic about the outlook for the U.S. , European and world economies.

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Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi arrives for the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong March 21, 2011.

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HONG KONG - MARCH 21: Chinese actress Xu Fan poses backstage after winning the Best Actress Award for her role at the 'Aftershock' at the 5th Asia Film Awards ceremony at the Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 21, 2011 in Hong Kong, China.

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Actress and director Joan Chen of China poses on the red carpet prior to Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong on March 21, 2011. The Asian Film Festival, held annually since 2007, is aimed at showcasing the region's movie talent. Twenty-nine films from nine territories vied for 14 prizes this year.

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BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 21: Chinese rescuers arrive at the Beijing Capital International Airport on March 21, 2011 in Beijing, China. A Chinese rescue team with 15 members, which has conducted search and rescue missions in Japan following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, returned to China today.

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BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 21: Actors during a performance at Ritan Park which holds the ceremony of 'fete day'' to mark the first day of spring on March 21st, 2011 in Beijing, China. March 21st is the Day of Vernal Equinox according to Chinese lunar calender.

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