May 26, 2009

South Korea has suspended imports of Chinese heat-processed duck meat after discovering an antibiotic substance that can cause a fatal condition in humans in a shipment, the government said Monday (May 25).

The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) has found a 1.0 parts per billion of Chloramphenicol in a 3.8-tonne shipment of meat from Henan Huangchuan Huaying Poultry Corporation Meat Products Co.

The ban will be imposed until the company can determine the exact cause of the contamination and ensure that tainted meat is not shipped to South Korea in the future.

The company is the only heat-processed duck meat supplier to South Korea, meaning that the ban will effectively halt all imports of the product. The company has exported 363 tonnes of duck meat this year.

NVRQS added that for products that are already in transit, no quarantine inspections will be carried out, while the 190 tonnes that are held in customs must undergo detailed examinations to check for any traces of the drug.

Chloramphenicol is used to treat human patients, but has been banned from livestock use since 1991 because it can cause aplastic anemia and childhood leukemia on rare occasions.

Aplastic anemia is a condition that occurs when your body stops producing enough new blood cells. There is no known cure for the condition. It is almost always fatal and can affect people weeks and months after having been exposed to the drug.