April 9, 2007

 

China requires stricter requirements for chicken slaughterhouses

 

 

Those who plan to set up slaughterhouses in China will have to apply to the government for a business license, according to a draft regulation issued Friday ( 6 April, 2007).

 

The resolution also said it would forbid injecting of water or any other chemicals into pigs or pig meat products, and packing houses should properly store unsold meat, the draft regulation by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council said.

 

The draft regulation imposes stricter meat quality checkups and tougher standards for slaughterhouses, which required that they do not disturb the lives of locals or damage the environment.

 

Butchers hired by slaughterhouses should have a health certificate and master special techniques, according to the regulation.

 

The regulation also spells out what standards a slaughterhouse should reach.

 

A standard slaughterhouse should have refrigeration equipment, quality assurance processes, satisfactory delivery and sterilization procedures, pollutant disposal and epidemic prevention, it said.

 

Last November, Shanghai police arrested three people who had put three to four grams of the banned drug, clenbuterol, into pig feed to increase the lean meat ratio.

 

In a single day, more than 300 people in the city developed symptoms of dizziness, fatigue, palpitations and tremors after eating the meat, and had to be hospitalized.

 

Clenbuterol, can prevent pigs from accumulating fat, but is poisonous to humans and can be fatal.

 

China has banned the use of the chemical as an additive in pig feed.