Thousands of dead pigs in a Shanghai river have cast a spotlight on China’s poorly regulated farm production, with the country’s favourite meat joining a long list of food scares.
As of Friday, the number of carcasses recovered in recent days from the Huangpu river – which cuts through the commercial hub and supplies over 20 per cent of its drinking water – had reached more than 7,500.
Shanghai has blamed the farmers of Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for casting pigs thought to have died of disease into the river upstream, but officials from the area have admitted to only a single producer doing so.
The city has stepped up inspections of markets to stop meat from the dead animals from reaching dining tables of its 23 million people.
From recycled cooking oil to dangerous chemicals in baby milk powder, a series of food scandals in China has caused huge public concern.
Pork is king in China, accounting for 64 per cent of total meat output last year, and urban residents with growing wallets and waistlines ate 20.63 kilograms of the meat per person in 2011.