Police have arrested three people in connection with the food poisoning of 300 people in Shanghai after an illegal chemical was fed to pigs that ended up dinner tables.

 

The Public Security Bureau of Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Friday announced the arrest of pig farmer Xu Weizhong, of Haiyan County, in neighboring Zhejiang Province.

 

Meat wholesaler Li Chunlin and trader Wu Wenlong were arrested on October 20 for alleged involvement in selling harmful food.

 

Xu, who had allegedly been feeding his stock the banned drug, clenbuterol, sold 130 pigs to Li on September 12, after an introduction from Wu.

 

Li transported the meat to the Shanghai Agricultural Products Center Wholesale Market for sale on September 13 after having the pigs slaughtered in a packinghouse of Haiyan.

 

The meat was distributed to 66 markets via the wholesale market.

 

Between 10 PM September 13 and 9 PM September 14, more than 300 people fell ill and were hospitalized after eating the meat.

 

They reportedly developed symptoms of dizziness, fatigue, palpitations and tremors, but no deaths were reported.

 

Xu allegedly admitted adding three to four grams of clenbuterol to each ton of feed to increase the lean meat, according to the bureau.

 

Clenbuterol, or "Shouroujing" in Chinese, can prevent pigs from accumulating fat, but is poisonous to humans and can be fatal. China has banned the use of the chemical as an additive in pig feed.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2006)