More than 110 people have been arrested, and 1000 tonnes of pork and 48 tonnes of cooking oil have been seized in the latest food safety scandal to hit China.
Recent reports claim that pigs that had died from disease where being bought by syndicates and the contaminated pork then used to produce bacon, ham and oil.
Government livestock insurance agents were allegedly bribed by the syndicates to advise when disease-ridden pig deaths were verified and then the syndicates would swoop in and buy the dead animals to use for processed meat products which were then sold across 11 provinces in China.
From those arrested, 75 have already been prosecuted, including government officials involved in the scandal. The value of the products seized is estimated at over 100 million yuan ($16 million).
China is no stranger to food safety scares. Pigs dominated the headlines last year when over 16,000 pig carcasses were found in a river supplying tap water to Shanghai. Other China food safety scares in 2014 included narcotics in noodles, lead in baby food and expired meat products being used in fast food.
Let’s hope with the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement underway that these issues get resolved soon.