Pork products containing residue of toxic chemical clenbuterol have poisoned more than 300 people in the city since Wednesday.
Food authorities have discovered that the contaminated pork was produced in neighbouring Zhejiang Province.
The clenbuterol (the general term is Shouroujing in Chinese) poisoning is the city's largest in terms of victim numbers in recent years. As of Wednesday, more than 300 patients from the city's nine districts have gone to hospitals for treatment. Victims vomited, convulsed and sweated for several hours after consuming the pork products.
Renji Hospital's Pudong Branch has received 97 patients in two days, many of whom are from one family.
Food authorities on Friday afternoon told China Daily that they were still counting the number of victims, none of whom where reported in serious condition.
The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration found that the pigs were bought by the Shanghai Agricultural Products Central Wholesale Market from East China's Zhejiang Province and then sold to local food markets. The market was required to stop operating on Friday. However, victims are unlikely to be compensated, according to food authorities.
"This batch of 189 pigs was sold to 66 local food markets. The rest of the pork products have been contained and police have detained the dealer," said Xu Wei, an official with the administration.
The pork was not the only source of the poisoning. Food officials found many victims were poisoned after consuming pig internal organs (liver, kidney and lungs) where the tissues gathered more clenbuterol residue.
Victims bought these products from unlicensed vendors around the markets, who got the products at very low prices from the wholesale market.
Source: China Daily
No comments:
Post a Comment