The Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with other five national ministries, held a teleconference on Wednesday to launch a four-month nationwide campaign against pork adulteration. They agreed to subject water-added pork processors to public exposure and criticism.

The campaign is considered an integral part of the national war against problematic food. By the end of this year, a network for authorized sales and slaughter outlets should be well established; all the urban markets and catering houses shall sell or use pork from authorized outlets, making quality certificates, invoices, and purchasing accounts a must.

The regulators at the teleconference asked departments at all levels to correct any regulatory oversights on breeding, slaughter, processing, quarantine systems, and illegal meat trading.

Any pork adulteration involving diseased, water-injected, and unqualified pork sales will receive punishment depending on the degree of violation.

(China.org.cn by He Shan, September 6, 2007)