August 5, 2011

Taiwanese police have busted a criminal organisation found to be manufacturing and selling illegal fat-burning drugs to hog farmers, confiscating 216 kg of the drug and another 5,400 tonnes of tainted hog feed, according to a news report Thursday (Aug 4).

The group was found to have sold a large amount of the drug to hog farmers across the island over the past year, the report said.

It is estimated that meat from approximately 50,000 hogs tainted with the toxic chemical is already on the market, it added.

The case was reported to be the largest of its kind ever investigated in Taiwan.

The illegal food additive is used to burn fat from hogs and make their flesh leaner. The chemical is hazardous to humans and its production and sale are prohibited on the island.