China shuts poultry farms over use of excessive antibiotics

Last week, Chinese media reported that some poultry farmers in Shandong Province had given their chickens excessive amounts of antibiotics, including amantadine and ribavirin, to help them survive in overcrowded chicken farms, triggering nationwide concern about food safety.

Bi Meijia, the chief economic engineer as well as the spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, said relevant poultry raisers and processors have been shut down and are under close investigation.

The ministry attaches great importance to the case.

The ministry has dispatched a group of experts to Shandong and ordered local authorities to properly handle the case, he said, adding results will be released to the media in time.

"In the following steps, we will enhance supervision over the entire poultry raising industry, raise the quality of the industry and notably scale up the crackdown on those who feed animals excessive amounts of antibiotics and veterinary drugs," state-run Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Those found violating laws and standards will be punished, he added.

China has been experiencing a spate of food and drug safety scandals starting with tainted milk powder, fake cooking oil and toxic capsules which have dented the confidence of public over government's ability to enforce food safety.