The Ministry of Health will hold a press conference at 10:00 am on May 11, 2009 in the press release hall on the fifth floor of the Ministry of Health (No.1 South Road of Xizhimen) to introduce the relevant situation of the special rectification work against illegal addition of non-edible substances and abuse of food additives nationwide. The following is part of the record:
Reporter of Ta Kung Pao: After the OMP incident this May, it was exposed that a famous brand Wong Lo Kat herbal tea illegally added Chinese herbal medicines. Recently, the media widely reported that consumers in Hangzhou suffered from gastric ulcer after drinking Wong Lo Kat herbal tea for a long time. The doctor diagnosed that he had stomach cold, and there was a kind of Chinese herbal medicine called Xia Ku Cao in Wong Lo Kat, which would aggravate the condition of people with stomach cold. Not long ago, domestic media all reported this event, which also aroused wide attention. Some experts and scholars pointed out that Xia Ku Cao added by Wong Lo Kat was not included in the list of 87 kinds of allowed edible herbs published by the Ministry of Health. In addition, experts pointed out that Xia Ku Cao could harm pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with weak constitution and stomach cold. Wong Lo Kat has a beverage approval number, but it promotes special effects. I wonder what is the evaluation of the Ministry of Health on this matter? In addition, will we investigate the Wong Lo Kat incident as we did in the OMP incident? Thank you.