China Campaigns to Ensure Meat Safety ahead of Spring Festival

2012-01-14 00:39:38 Xinhua Web Editor: Yihang

Chinese government departments have jointly taken steps to ensure the safety of meat products for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted on its website Friday.

Government authorities in business and commerce, public security, agriculture and quality control have begun a 10-month crackdown on unauthorized slaughtering of livestock to enhance the safety of meat products, according to the statement.

The upcoming Spring Festival holiday will see a boom in meat consumption and very likely food safety issues, said the statement, citing Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Weixin.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, is a traditional holiday for family reunion and falls on Jan. 23 this year.

The campaign, starting from the end of last year, will also target illegal meat processors that inject pork with water and sell the meat of sick livestock, it said.

Chinese meat processors shocked the nation in 2011 by adding cancer-causing clenbuterol to pig feed to produce lean meat, in what has become known as one of the most severe food safety scandals of the year.

CRIENGLISH.com claims the copyright of all material and information produced originally by our staff. All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes only is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.

CRIENGLISH.com holds neither liability nor responsibility for materials attributed to any other source. Such information is provided as reportage and dissemination of information but does not necessarily reflect the opinion of or endorsement by CRI.