Contaminated meat: Hong Kong faces pork shortage after China bans livestock exports from Jiangxi
Traders confused and bracing for higher prices after government bans imports from area where 319 pigs were found to be contaminated with remnants of illegal food additives
Local retailers are facing a pork shortfall after the Chinese government banned all livestock farms in Jiangxi from exporting pigs to Hong Kong.
The mainland China government issued the ban yesterday after Hong Kong’s Food and Environment Hygiene Department discovered 319 pigs with traces of Salbutamol and Clenbuterol – drugs commonly used to treat asthma, which also artificially enhance animal growth and leanness.
Despite authorities’ efforts to block the distribution of the tainted livestock, it was confirmed that 40 pigs had been sent to 27 retailers around the city including two Wellcome stores and three Kai Bo Food Supermarkets.
A spokesman for the department said 2200 kg of pork confiscated from importers and an additional 1300 kg turned in by wholesalers would be destroyed.
“The department was conducting a comprehensive review and investigation into the matter,” he said, adding that live pig supply from Guangdong and Hunan remained unaffected.
The spokesman failed to confirm if the tainted meat was still in the market and if any had been consumed.
With Jiangxi province farmers supplying about 20 per cent of Hong Kong’s daily pork intake, local markets are bound to suffer, according to importing agent Cheng Ka-shing of the Hong Kong Agriculture Special Zone Limited.