Crackdown to ensure safety of meat products

Local authorities have been urged to launch an eight-month crackdown on illegal activities related to meat products, according to a notice released after several food safety incidents were exposed on World Consumer Rights Day, which fell on March 15.

The notice, released by the Food Safety Commission of the State Council and three other government departments last week, called for a crackdown on the use of prohibited drugs such as ractopamine, a feed additive known as "lean meat powder", as well as the production of counterfeit beef and donkey products.

Focusing on pork, beef, mutton and chicken products, local authorities are required to thoroughly investigate sources of related illegal activities and target the entire chain of livestock and poultry farming from slaughter to sale.

Measures including the closure of illegal businesses and the exposure of typical cases should be taken to ensure the safety and quality of meat products, the notice said.

A China Central Television program aired on World Consumer Rights Day said some companies in Fuyang, Anhui province, had been using low-quality pork containing lymph nodes to produce semi-prepared dishes.

The part of the carcass between a pig's head and torso is known as "lymph meat" because it contains lymph nodes, fatty tumors and thyroid glands.

It is widely considered cheap, low-quality meat. The wholesale price of pork belly is around 24 yuan ($3.30) a kilogram, but untreated lymph meat sells for around 6 yuan a kg, the program said.

It has been an open secret that such meat has been used in place of pork belly to make a popular semi-prepared dish that is mainly produced in cities such as Fuyang.

The companies involved have been closed down and are under further investigation, while related meat products and raw materials have been sealed off, Fuyang's market supervision bureau said.

The notice said local agriculture and rural affairs departments should focus on pig, cow, sheep and chicken farms and breeders, and crack down on illegal practices such as selling or disposing of sick or dead livestock and poultry.

Close attention must be paid to slaughterhouses and facilities dealing with deceased livestock and poultry, with strict penalties for adulteration, drug injection or the illegal use of meat from diseased animals, it said.

Local market supervision departments have been urged to punish those involved in the sale of livestock and poultry products that are of unknown origin or those that have not been approved by inspection and quarantine authorities, as well as those producing fake meat products, it added.

Si Guang, director of the food safety coordination department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that in recent years, the quality and safety of meat products in China have continued to improve. However, illegal acts still occur in some areas, disrupting market order and threatening public health.

Yang Zekun contributed to this story.