February 26, 2009
China detains seven suspects over poisoned pork
Guangzhou's municipal public security bureau Wednesday (Feb 25) have detained seven people allegedly responsible for the recent case of contaminated pork, which resulted in 70 people falling ill in the capital of South China's Guangdong province in the past week.
An official of the bureau said all the suspects were either individual vendors or wholesale sellers, whom operated their businesses in Tianhe, Zengcheng and Baiyun districts.
The first case was reported in Guangzhou on February 19, after which about 70 people have taken ill with the same symptoms. The victims complained of stomach-aches and diarrhoea after they ate pig organs bought from the local markets.
Local authorities then found that the pig organs were tainted with a banned food additive, clenbuterol which prevents pigs from gaining fat. The illegal additive is harmful to humans and can be fatal.
Investigators also found that the contaminated hogs arrived from several farms in Hunan province and were imported to different markets in Tianhe, Zengcheng and Baiyun districts of the capital through a wholesale market in Tianhe.
Meanwhile, the municipal health bureau Wednesday (Feb 25) told state media that no fresh cases of food poisoning had been reported since Saturday (Feb 21) and all 70 patients have been treated and discharged from the hospitals.
