January 19, 2007
Pork sales down two-thirds in Beijing after SMS scare
An SMS message circulating in Beijing warning consumers not to eat pork has caused pork sales to fall by two-thirds in the country's capital.
The message warned consumers that pork in Beijing has been contaminated by a virus that can cause encephalitis, a disease that damages the brain.
Other versions of the message claimed that an insider from China's Ministry of Health had broken the news, and that presidents from all major Beijing-based hospitals were conferring for a solution.
The Beijing municipal government officially refuted the rumour on Jan 13.
Pork sold in Beijing has been tested by strict standards and can be eaten, Zhao Chunhui, deputy director with the municipal health bureau said.
He Xiong, deputy director with the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention stressed there was no medical evidence suggesting that eating the pork could lead to the brain disease, while Sun Xianze, director with China's State Food and Drug Administration, assured the public that the text message is nothing more than a rumor.
Still, the official assurances did nothing to assure Beijing residents, some of whom reported suffering upset stomachs or other imaginary pains after eating pork, China Daily reported.
Beijing was rocked by two food-safety incidents last year.
More than 160 people in Beijing contracted a parasitic disease after eating raw or undercooked snails in a restaurant between last June and October and in December, a sample test showed that a carcinogenic red dye, Sudan IV, was confirmed in salted eggs in the capital.
