The heads of animal husbandry bureaus in Henan counties where pig farmers mixed illegal substances in feed have been suspended from work following a television expose.
In a nationally televised show to mark World Consumer Rights Day on Tuesday, pig farmers in counties including Mengzhou, Qinyang and Jiyuan were shown mixing banned clenbuterol hydrochloride in feed to make pigs leaner. Inspectors in those counties were also filmed turning a blind eye to violations after taking bribes.
The show resurrected food-safety fears on the mainland, which is struggling to restore consumer confidence following the melamine-tainted milk scandal three years ago that poisoned at least 300,000 children.
Despite repeated tightening of food safety laws and crackdowns by the authorities, media reports about tainted food remain common.
Some of the clenbuterol-tainted pigs filmed by the China Central Television programme were sent to the Jiyuan subsidiary of national processed-meat giant Shuanghui, whose products are sold all over China, including in Hong Kong.
Du Kai, a manager in charge of exports at Shuanghui, confirmed that its products had been exported to Hong Kong and said it was not ordering a recall.