About 75 percent of ham sausages made in China are qualified for consumption, according to the latest sample survey conducted by the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The survey showed that 12 out of 16 varieties of ham sausage products made by 13 factories in Henan Province in central China, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces in east China, southwestern Sichuan Province, and Liaoning and Jilin provinces in the northeast met the national quality requirements, the administration said.

High contents of composite phosphate and water as well as unqualified protein, however, are blamed for the low quality of unqualified sausage products, according to the administration.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2005)