A bunch of pigheads

Look, if these pigheads can't get their act together, might as well shut the whole industry down. That'll teach them a lesson.


From the NST today:-

Pork war hots up over banned growth drug

JOHOR BARU: A "pork war" is brewing.

The Malaysian Pork Sellers’ Association (MPSA) and the Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Association of Malaysia (FLFAM) are pointing fingers at each other over the use of beta-agonist, a banned growth enhancer, on pigs.

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In May, the Consumers’ Association of Penang advised consumers to refrain from eating pork as half of the samples tested in Penang showed they were tainted with salbutamol, a type of beta-agonist.

On Wednesday, MCA Traditional Agriculture bureau chief Datuk Dr Lee Chong Meng said 70 per cent of the pigs bred in Selangor were tested positive for the banned drug.

His statements were immediately refuted by the FLFAM, which claimed that most of the farmers were using a substitute drug, Paylean, since beta-agonist was banned.

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From the STAR:-

JOHOR BARU: About 70% of locally-bred pigs are still fed beta-agonist, a substance banned two years ago, according to the Malaysian Pork Sellers Association.

Association chairman Goh Chui Lai said beta-agonist was still widely-used as a growth enhancer by many pig farms in the central and northern states, and he urged the Government to check the problem at the source instead of fining butchers for selling pork with the banned substance.

... (Health) Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said monitoring the use of beta-agonist was complex and involved many levels in the food chain.

“At our level, we monitor beta-agonist in pork while the Agriculture Ministry monitors the substance in pigs in the farms, before they are slaughtered,” he said. “We had carried out checks on pork and imposed fines on pork sellers. But the action alone is not fair because they would not know if the meat has beta-agonist. So we also trace the farmers through them,” he said.

The ministry had taken two cases against pig farmers to court but lost the cases due to poor coordination and documentation between agencies involved, he said.

“The Health Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and Local Government and Housing Ministry have to improve on the coordination, and enforcement must be strengthened so that there is no power abuse,” he said.

Dr Chua said there was also difficulty monitoring the use of beta-agonist in pigs due to religious obstacles. He said the enforcement had been weak and urged the Government to raid pharmacies that import and supply the substance and feed-additive producers that pre-mix the substance.

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What are these pigs trying to tell us? That it is a LOST cause? Eat at your own RISKS?

Like many other issues in this country, the Chinese community should be proactive in resolving this matter of great health consequences rather than look to the government for action.

If consuming local pork is BAD and HARMFUL for you and your loved ones, surely it's not that difficult to abstain from eating them, right?

Who better to teach these greedy and unscrupulous industry players a lesson than the consumer himself?