BEIJING - The government of Central China's Jiaozuo city said Saturday an inquiry team has been sent to a local pharmaceutical firm which was accused of manufacturing an antibiotic intermediate using reprocessed used cooking oil.
The move came one day after the State Food and Drug Administration announced to investigate the truth of the media exposure.
The drug watchdog had organized experts to evaluate the safety risk of the involved cephalosporin antibiotics, for one of its materials is made by using soya-bean oil which could have been blended with the wasted cooking oil, according to its statement publicized on Friday.
Chinese media reported on Tuesday that a subsidiary of Joincare Pharmaceutical Group Industry Co, Ltd, located in Jiaozuo, purchased the "gutter oil" and used it to produce the widely used antibiotics intermediate - 7-ACA.
"Gutter oil", referring to reprocessed oil made from kitchen waste dredged from gutters behind restaurants, has been in the middle of a spate of food safety scandals in China after it was found to be illegally reused by restaurants or bottled for sale.
Joincare produces 25 percent of total amount of 7-ACA used in the country, according to media reports.
The Joincare Group Thursday released a statement on its website refuting the media's reports and said it was willing to accept government's supervision and inspection.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 
