SteveGrenard
8th December 2007, 04:48 PM
The following news indicates that at least the responsible firm is doing something about it. However it begs the question as to whether or not the product has been recalled from domestic use (inside China) and other countries to which it has been exported. More information will be forthcoming no doubt.
China Halts Exports of Maling Canned Meat
-----------------------------------------------
Exports from one of China's best-known food makers were stopped
Friday [7 Dec 2007] after Hong Kong authorities said they found
unsafe chemicals in canned luncheon meat. Shanghai-based Maling Food
Co. issued a statement Friday saying it had sent top executives to
Hong Kong to assist with an investigation into allegations that a
shipment of its meat, about as famous in China as Spam is in the
U.S., was contaminated with the antibiotic nitrofurans, which is
thought to cause cancer.
"We take this issue very seriously and immediately took relevant
measures, asking the Hong Kong authorities to recall the affected
products," Maling said in a statement on its Web site.
The report went on to say:
China closed more than 6000 slaughterhouses and created a database of
23 052 slaughterhouses across the country as part of its campaign to
improve food safety, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported
Friday [7 Dec 2007].
Indicating that the Chinese government has also stepped into this latest toxic
food scandal.
Date: 7 Dec 2007
Source: Associated Press, Google news [edited]
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iX53w6HUQ-uJn6YJcW4HpcPV-jxgD8TCEG000
The Pro-Med listserv had this to add to the above report:
[Nitrofurans have been regarded as both carcinogenic and mutagenic in
human beings. Nitrofurans have been used to effectively to prevent
and/or treat of gastrointestinal infections caused by _Escherichia
coli, Salmonella spp., Mycoplasma spp., Coccidia_ spp., coliforms and
some other protozoa and as growth promoters in livestock.
Although the various pharmaceutical agents rapidly leave the animal's
body, the metabolites appear to be tightly bound to muscle tissue and
are therefore available for consumption. There has been an associated
link to mutagenesis and carcinogenesis, resulting in the EU, the USA
and Canada (and probably others) banning the use of these
pharmaceutical agents in food producing animals.
This article implies the nitrofurans may have been in the meat prior
to processing, which means the animal(s) were treated with a
nitrofuran containing pharmaceutical compounds. Nitrofurans have been
used in meat and seafood to prevent bacterial growth, but this is
also prohibited by many countries. - Mod.TG]
....................tg/ejp/mpp
http://www.promedmail.org
China Halts Exports of Maling Canned Meat
-----------------------------------------------
Exports from one of China's best-known food makers were stopped
Friday [7 Dec 2007] after Hong Kong authorities said they found
unsafe chemicals in canned luncheon meat. Shanghai-based Maling Food
Co. issued a statement Friday saying it had sent top executives to
Hong Kong to assist with an investigation into allegations that a
shipment of its meat, about as famous in China as Spam is in the
U.S., was contaminated with the antibiotic nitrofurans, which is
thought to cause cancer.
"We take this issue very seriously and immediately took relevant
measures, asking the Hong Kong authorities to recall the affected
products," Maling said in a statement on its Web site.
The report went on to say:
China closed more than 6000 slaughterhouses and created a database of
23 052 slaughterhouses across the country as part of its campaign to
improve food safety, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported
Friday [7 Dec 2007].
Indicating that the Chinese government has also stepped into this latest toxic
food scandal.
Date: 7 Dec 2007
Source: Associated Press, Google news [edited]
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iX53w6HUQ-uJn6YJcW4HpcPV-jxgD8TCEG000
The Pro-Med listserv had this to add to the above report:
[Nitrofurans have been regarded as both carcinogenic and mutagenic in
human beings. Nitrofurans have been used to effectively to prevent
and/or treat of gastrointestinal infections caused by _Escherichia
coli, Salmonella spp., Mycoplasma spp., Coccidia_ spp., coliforms and
some other protozoa and as growth promoters in livestock.
Although the various pharmaceutical agents rapidly leave the animal's
body, the metabolites appear to be tightly bound to muscle tissue and
are therefore available for consumption. There has been an associated
link to mutagenesis and carcinogenesis, resulting in the EU, the USA
and Canada (and probably others) banning the use of these
pharmaceutical agents in food producing animals.
This article implies the nitrofurans may have been in the meat prior
to processing, which means the animal(s) were treated with a
nitrofuran containing pharmaceutical compounds. Nitrofurans have been
used in meat and seafood to prevent bacterial growth, but this is
also prohibited by many countries. - Mod.TG]
....................tg/ejp/mpp
http://www.promedmail.org