Doping substances in Chinese food warn for 2008 Olympics

"Athletes who compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics face the danger of a positive drug test if they dine out and eat some of China's chemical-laden foods, a top Chinese doping expert has warned.

• Chinese food is contaminated with banned drugs like anabolic steroids to such an extent that the possibility is real, said Yang Shumin, the former head of China's Olympic doping control centre and an expert on anabolic steroids.

In China, food safety is a major issue for the entire population, not just for the more than 10,000 athletes who will arrive here in August 2008 to take part in the Olympics.

• Many of the hundreds of millions of China's farmers buy anabolic steroids for their livestock and antibiotics for their fowl from salesmen who promise better prices for bigger pigs and healthier ducks.

"Dangerous pesticides, fertilizers and chemical additives to make the produce more attractive also combine with heavy metals washed into the food chain through contaminated rivers and streams.

• Add to that poor hygiene and food handling, and the recipe for regular outbreaks of mass food-poisoning is complete.

In one recent case that raised Olympic alarm bells, 336 people fell sick in Shanghai in September after eating pork contaminated with anabolic steroids.

Chinese officials were stunned to hear that athletes taking part in the World Junior Championships in Beijing in August went looking to eat raw meat on the streets."

• This is supposed to be the responsibility of the same group in charge of the "World Baseball Classic?"

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