So, when you are looking for dogs treats, say, Pig Ears- look at the bottom back of the bag, and see that it is made in the USA. That in and of itself is no guarantee of safety, but buying from China rolling the dice on your pet's health, that's for sure.
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: 17 Nov 2008
Source: Epoch Times [edited]
Clenbuterol food poisoning was reported in
Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. Since 10 Nov
2008, 70 employees of the Zhongmao Plastics
Products company in Jiaxing have been diagnosed.
A pork dish served at the Zhongmao cafeteria
lunch meal was identified as the source.
A Chinese hospital doctor, Hao Jun (alias),
confirmed to The Epoch Times that the patients
shared similar and obvious symptoms: palpitation,
nausea, vomiting, dizziness, chest tightness,
uneasiness, shaking, trembling, weakness, and instability.
Hao said, "Some patients have been seen at the
hospital. More than 20 patients suffered from
severe poisoning. Others were seen at other
hospitals. Most patients have been released.
Those who were in critical condition have also
been stabilized, although the side effects are yet to be observed."
Dr. Hao Jun indicated that clenbuterol is an
asthma medicine. It will speed up the catabolism
of fat in pigs if used in pig feed. It will also
enhance the lean meat and muscle in pigs. It is
heat stable and will not decompose until it's
heated to over 172 C. Therefore, cooking will not
eliminate clenbuterol toxicity. It will
accumulate in the human body through ingestion.
Long term consumption will lead to malignant
tumors and pose particular danger to patients who
have high blood pressure or diabetes. If the
intake is excessive, the poisoning can be life-threatening.
Dr. Hao mentioned that because one of his
relatives owns a pig feed company, he was made
aware of the "secret" about pig feed additives.
Clenbuterol added to feed will not only shorten
the growth time but also increase the sale price.
Growth hormone is also added. Poison chemicals
such as arsenic have also been added to enhance
the redness and shine of the pork skin and hair.
Some might even add tranquilizers or sleeping
pills to make pigs sleep. Long term consumption
of pork adulterated with these feeds might lead
to retardation. The hormones and chemicals could
also endanger lives and lead to many illnesses.
"It is not realistic to expect the public [to] be
cautious. The critical point is the monitoring
mechanism of the government," Dr. Hao expressed,
"The government's response has always been the
same: "The case is being investigated, and
sanction is warranted." However, it always ends
with no action. Therefore, those who committed
the crime have nothing to fear. I believe there's
some sort of collusion and conflict of interest
between the business and the officials."
Pork containing clenbuterol often has a bright red skin with very little fat.
According to partial data, since 1998, there have
been at least 18 clenbuterol food poisoning cases
in China. More than 1700 people have been poisoned, with one confirmed death.
Between 8-18 Oct 2008, there were 3 food
poisonings confirmed caused by clenbuterol in pork meals in Guangdong Province.
During September 2006, a series of food borne
illnesses occurred in Shanghai and sickened more
than 300 people. These were confirmed to be
related to meals with pork or pig intestines
containing clenbuterol. In June of the same year,
employees of a hotel in Foshan suffered from
clenbuterol food poisoning. Also, hundreds of
workers in a glass factory in Guangdong Province
were poisoned by meals containing clenbuterol in May 2006.
Hao Jun emphasized, "Considering the infant
formula food borne illness [melamine poisoning],
and the massive incidences of poor food quality
and safety, problems in China's processed foods are increasingly worrisome."
[Byline: Xin Fei]
--
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via
ProMED-mail
[It is well known that clenbuterol is a metabolic
stimulator resulting in a lower fat level. It is
illegal to use in livestock in the US.
Clenbuterol is also used as a bronchodilator in
human patients and illegally used as a weight loss stimulant in humans.
Although the mechanism is not understood,
clenbuterol in swine can and does seem to cause problems in humans. - Mod.TG]
[ProMED-mail would like to thank Dr. Angela Huang
article translated from Chinese.
In a report on food safety by the Institute for
Agricultural Sciences of Viet Nam, discusses the
use of beta agonists in swine feed. This
document mentions that only a small amount of
clenbuterol is excreted and metabolized, with the
majority of the drug remaining in muscles and
organs (liver and kidney). Humans, when using
food processed from these animals show the same
manifestations as if they had directly inhaled a
treatment dose of clenbuterol with increased
heart rate leading to coronary arteriectasia
(arterial distension) , bronchoectasia
(irreversible local bronchial dilitation), and a
concommitant stimulation of insulin release and
glycolysis.
Symptoms compatible with the description provided in the above newswire.
Of note, a similar incident occurred in Hong Kong
in 1998 involving 9 people eating pork lungs that
were found to have concentrations of
clenbuterol ranging between 1 and 24 micrograms
per kilogram. (see Pork, contaminated,
clenbuterol - China (Hong Kong) 19980505.0876).
For a map of China, see
For the interactive HealthMap/ProMED map of China
with links to other recent ProMED postings on
events in China and neighboring countries, see
selected references:
1 Martinez-Navarro JF, Food poisoning related to
consumption of illicit beta-agonist in liver, Lancet 336 (1990), p. 1311.
2. Brambilla G, Loizzo A, Fontana L et al., Food
poisoning following consumption of
clenbuterol-treated veal in Italy, J Am Med Assoc 278 (1997), p. 635.
3 Brambilla G, Cenci T, Franconi F., Clinical
and pharmacological profile in a clembuterol
epidemic poisoning of contaminated beef meat in
Italy, Toxicol Lett 114 (2000), pp. 47–53.
4. Ramos F, silveira I, Silva JM, Barbosa J, Cruz
C, Martins J, Neves C, Alves C.Proposed
guidelines for clenbuterol food poisoning. Am J
Med. 1 September 2004. 117(5): 362-362
- Mod.MPP]
[see also:
1998
----
Pork, contaminated, clenbuterol - China (Hong Kong) 19980505.0876]
..................................mpp/tg/msp/mpp
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