Lunar New Year food safety blitz

Published: 13 Jan 2009 01:06:33 PST

FOOD experts from Beijing will step up safety inspections in seven provinces ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on January 25 this year, the Ministry of Health said yesterday.

Inspectors will target supermarkets, restaurants and food additive producing factories in seven provinces, including Hebei, the heart of last year's melamine-tainted milk scandal, Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said.

"We'll seriously check for illegal substances and additives in food and will severely punish companies or individuals who violate the law," Mao said at a news conference in Beijing.

The week-long Lunar New Year holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, is usually celebrated with family gatherings and sumptuous feasts.

"We will also update the public on major cases across the country," said Mao.

According to the ministry, the country had screened 22.4 million babies who were fed melamine-tainted formula by the end of December and found 296,000 were sickened. Hospitals treated 52,898 sick babies nationwide, with 52,582 cured.

Mao also said the government had allocated about 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) for infectious disease control and new drug research and development.

The ministry's mid-term R&D outline encourages researchers to develop new drugs and improve the prevention and cure of infectious diseases, such as AIDS and hepatitis, by 2020.

More than 1,200 Chinese died of infectious diseases last month, 200 more than in the corresponding month in the previous year and up 300 from the previous month, the ministry said.

The mainland confirmed that one person died of bird flu this month.

Huang Yanqing, a native of the eastern Fujian Province, was the first human bird flu case reported in Beijing since 2003, according to the municipal health bureau.

Huang fell ill on December 24. She was admitted to hospital on December 27. She tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza and died on January 5.

Doctors have examined and discharged 200 people who had been in contact with the woman.

Source: shanghaidaily