Beijing banned the sale of turbot on Monday after detecting
excessive amounts of carcinogens in the fish.
A 12315 hotline has been set up so that citizens can report
sales of the contaminated fish, according to the municipal food
security office.
Several other cities and provinces -- including Tianjin, Xi'an
and Liaoning -- have also started quality inspections of turbot
after Shanghai announced Friday it had detected excessive residue
including nitrofuran and chloromycetin in 30 samples of turbot. The
chemicals are known cancer causing agents.
The finger has been pointed at fish farmers who knowingly feed
banned chemicals to the fish.
Fish markets, shopping malls, and hotels in Shanghai have
stopped selling turbot following government warnings.
The eastern province of Shandong, a major turbot producing area, has
taken measures to monitor turbot farms.
It has also called on local authorities to trace contaminated
fish and crank up inspection efforts in the cultivation,
transportation, storage and sales of turbot and other fish.
Due to their low resistance to disease, the fish, introduced
from Europe in the 1990s, are sometimes fed large quantities of
medicinal supplements, which leave harmful, cancer causing residue
in their flesh.
The State Food and Drug Administration has ordered local offices
and authorities in coastal areas including Shandong, Jiangsu,
Hebei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Liaoning, and Tianjin to
closely monitor the case.
China is currently assailed by severe food security problems as
suspect food products continue to come to light. Recent cases
include parasite-infested snails, steroid-tainted pork and ducks
and hens that were fed cancer-causing Sudan dye to make their yolks
red.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2006)