BEIJING, April 25 (UPI) -- Hundreds of people, including children, suffered food poisoning in two provinces in China, with at least 15 of them in critical condition, officials said.
In the first case Saturday, 286 villagers in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, were sent to hospitals after attending a wedding, and 96 of them were diagnosed with food poisoning, China Daily reported Monday. Of those, 15 patients, including children and a pregnant woman, were reported in critical condition, the newspaper said.
Health authorities took samples from the patients to see if their condition resulted from consuming clenbuterol-tainted pork, the newspaper said. The banned substance is used to make pork meat leaner.
Others with minor symptoms were treated and did not require hospitalization.
"Officials with the local center for disease control and prevention arrived last night, and I heard them say the mass poisoning might be related to clenbuterol," a hospital nurse was quoted as telling China Daily by telephone.
Clenbuterol can cause a number of health problems and those with heart problems face bigger risks.
Chinese authorities have launched a massive campaign since a scandal over clenbuterol-tainted pork broke last month. Pork is the most consumed meat in the country.
The other case was reported Friday in Yulin city in Shaanxi province, where about 250 primary school children suffered nausea and vomiting after drinking milk, China Daily reported. The children were released after being treated at local hospitals.
The dairy group that produced the milk said on its Web site it is cooperating with investigators to determine how it got tainted.
