Banned drug used widely in pig trade

Shanghai Daily, March 16, 2011

Banned drugs are being fed to pigs as a matter of course in central China's Henan Province as farmers seek to produce leaner pork.

Tainted pork is reaching the market due to lax supervision and corruption, China Central Television reported in a recent TV program.

It discovered that almost all pig farms in Mengzhou City in Henan, one of China's biggest pig breeding areas, mixed ractopamine - a stimulant drug that promotes lean meat - into pig feed.

Leaner pork is considered healthier by customers, but consumers who eat ractopamine tainted products may experience nausea, dizziness and tremors. People with heart disease and high blood pressure are more at risk and consuming large amounts can lead to cancer.

Jiyuan Shuanghui Food Co Ltd, a Henan subsidiary of famous pork manufacturer Shuanghui Group, was found to be slaughtering pigs fed the banned drug.

The company, which boasts it conducts 18 rounds of tests, didn't scan for ractopamine when buying pigs, CCTV reported. Song Hongliang, a manager in charge of pig purchase, admitted they brought tainted pigs and even offered higher prices.

Pig breeder Cao Fuxing, who has sold to Jiyuan Shuanghui for years, said the company favored such animals. "They only want pigs fed with the drug, because their pork products are more popular," Cao said.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Health and the State Food and Drug Administration banned ractopamine in 2002. But the premium paid on pigs fed the drug make breeders willing to take the risk.

While a urine test can detect ractopamine, pig breeders usually submit a clean sample, although inspection staff are supposed to collect this.

Pigs should receive three quarantine certificates and wear ear tags before they leave farms. But it cost just 200 yuan (US$30) to buy all the certificates through a middleman at an animal quarantine station in Qinyang City in Henan and no documents were required, according to CCTV.

Some 150 ear tags were offered as a gift.

Most pigs from farms in Henan are sent to slaughter houses in Nanjing City, capital of Jiangsu Province.