May 11, 2011

 

New poultry scandal breaks out in southwest China

 

 

Nearly 1,000 live chickens filled with mineral powder to increase their weights have been found in China, making it the latest food scandal in the country.

 

The chickens were found in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality during a raid jointly conducted by the local administration for industry and commerce, the public security bureau and the local highway law enforcement authority. They were being transported from Guizhou province on early Sunday (May 8) morning, Tuesday's China Daily reported.

 

According to Tang Chuan, an official with the municipal administration for industry and commerce, local consumers told authorities that unknown substances had been found in the digestive tracts of live chickens bought from local markets and that they feared their health might be in danger.

 

Since April 18, the administration has investigated several poultry markets, collecting samples for testing.

 

The samples taken from the chicken's intestines were found to contain a considerable amount of barium sulfate, commonly known as barite powder.

 

And there were 110 milligrams of magnesium and 1.1 milligrams of barium for each kilogramme of the chickens that were tested.

 

On Saturday night, law enforcement officers stopped two trucks carrying suspected chickens at the toll stations of the Chongqing-Guizhou highway. The officers noticed that the chickens' craws were abnormally plump and asked the drivers to hand over several of the chickens for testing.

 

The tests revealed gray powder in the birds' craws.

 

The owners of the livestock confessed to the inspectors that each of the birds had been fed from 300 to 400 grams of barite powder. The chickens had been purchased from Zunyi, a city in Guizhou province.

 

The chickens were seized, and the case is under further investigation.

 

Barite powder is mostly used to add weight to oil drilling mud, to deflect X-rays in medical science, as a material in the brakes of vehicles and in high-quality paints.

 

Regular reports of incidents involving food safety have caused much concern for the Chinese.

 

While China is working on its largest crackdown on food safety hazards, the country's food safety authority is also making efforts to better inform the public about food safety.

 

Some suggested that giving timely warnings about food safety is as important as spreading information about food safety.