China wrestles with food safety problems

[n2doc]

y Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times
June 26, 2011, 5:35 p.m.
Reporting from Beijing— It was a wedding the guests would never forget. Everybody of consequence in the village had been invited to a banquet to celebrate the marriage of the son of one of the wealthiest families. Fifty tables groaned under a lavish spread of dumplings, steamed chickens, pork ribs, meatballs, stir fries, all of it exceptionally delicious, guests would later recall.

But about an hour into the meal, something seemed to be wrong. A pregnant woman collapsed. Old men clutched their chests. Children vomited.

Out of about 500 people at the April 23 banquet in Wufeng, 286 went to the hospital. Doctors at the No. 3 Xiangya Hospital in nearby Changsha, capital of Hunan province, blamed pork contaminated with clenbuterol, a steroid that makes pigs grow faster and leaner. Consumed by humans in excess quantity, it can cause heart palpitations, nausea, convulsions, dizziness and vomiting.

"It was as though he was poisoned," said a villager named Dai, whose husband was hospitalized for five days.

more

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-food-20110627,0,7413678.story

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Stuff usually doesn't get fixed until rich people suffer like the poor ones.

Even in China.

[izquierdista]

3. Well, it DID make the news

What if the wedding was for a poor family?

[Divernan]

2. Banned in the US, but being illegally imported from Canada.

(Note: This import alert represents the Agency's current guidance to FDA field personnel regarding the manufacturer(s) and/or products(s) at issue. It does not create or confer any rights for or on any person, and does not operate to bind FDA or the public).

Import Alert # 68-03
Published Date: 03/18/2011
Type: DWPE
Import Alert Name:
"Detention Without Physical Examination Of Clenbuterol Due to Misuse in Food Animals"

Reason for Alert:
The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has received information that "Clenbuterol," a drug that has not been approved in the United States, may be illegally imported from Canada, or other countries, for use in show beef cattle and other show livestock. The drug is reported to have dramatic effects upon muscle development and as a repartitioning agent in altering the lean to fat ratio. Recently, in Spain, there have been reports of ACUTE POISONING OF HUMANS from their consumption of liver from clenbuterol treated animals.

Clenbuterol is approved in Canada as an injectable and in various oral dosage forms for use solely in horses. The authorized source is Boehringer Ingelheim of Canada, under the trade name "Ventipulmin." The manufacturer is Ingelheim on the Rhine, in Germany. The drug cannot be legally imported into the United States, except under an investigation exemption. CVM has been informed but has not yet confirmed that veterinarians in the U.S. can obtain the drug from a Canadian source merely on the basis of a telephone call. We do not know the mode of shipment or if the entries are formal, informal, or clandestine. We do know, however, that the drug is in a gelatinous form packaged in bottles for encapsulating by the user, and is shipped to the United States in a form not approved in Canada. The actual product containers or labels have not yet been seen by the Center.

Guidance:
Districts may detain without physical examination all shipments of "Clenbuterol," in any form, unless the drug is imported under an approved INAD.

Clenbuterol ("Ventipulmin") is usually or normally shipped from Canada, but may be shipped from other countries as well. Shipments may be directed to veterinarians or individuals. Because there are SERIOUS ADVERSE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS when Clenbuterol is used in FOOD PRODUCING ANIMALS, this drug is inappropriate for release under the personal importation policy.

Contact CVM, Compliance when detentions are made under this Import Alert.

Note: Import Alert #68-08 lists "Clenbuterol" among other drugs, but the context is different from this concern.

[Odin2005]

4. My God, how terrifying for those folks!

:grr:

[Brickbat]

5. Which is why I read labels on everything, including food, and if my food says "Made in China" I

don't buy it.

[kath]

8. but the HUGE problem is that so many things aren't labeled, so you have no freakin' idea where the

food or its ingredients came from. It's infuriating.

[Brickbat]

9. If I don't know, I don't buy it.

[somone]

6. Cooking oil scooped out of sewers and reprocessed

exceptionally delicious :puke:

[KurtNYC]

7. clenbuterol is a common drug used illegally in horse racing

Surprising (even doubtful) that they would get a dose big enough to produce their symptoms by eating cooked meat. Also clenbuterol is used for weight LOSS which seems like a weird goal for pig farmers.