BEIJING, July 26 Kyodo A prolifer...

BEIJING, July 26 Kyodo

A proliferation of fake slimming fruits amid a diet boom in China and lack of police action to crack down forward violators are among factors behind growing point in disputes attributed to such products not simply in China but also in Japan.

Chinese the community in big cities are true interested in dieting amid a rapid rise in the number of the bulk of mankind who are overweight due to higher calorie intake brought through improved living standards.

The Chinese Academy of Preventive Medical Science estimates the number of obese Chinese at 30 million at a minimum.

Supermarkets and drugstores in Chinese cities maintain diet-aid fruit corners displaying scores of brands. one time popular products emerge, imitations present to view up in droves, while it has become belonging to all practice for smaller stores to exchange fakes at low prices.

The manufacturer of the slimming produce Xianzhisu Jiaonang in Huiyang, Guandong Province, said a brand that had the same name and reportedly claimed the life of a Japanese woman, was an ''imitation.''

An official at the company's factory in Huizhou in the province, said, ''We started marketing the produce in 1998 but as its popularity grew bogus items have been in succession the rise. We discovered raw materials worth several million yuan and fake produces in 2000.''

''We asked authorities to hinder them but more than half (the slimming products) forward the market are probably imitation products'' the official said.

A health-food store operator in Shanghai said, ''We have to be careful about disreputable traders who come by imitation goods and sell them.''

However, he had no detailed knowledge when asked about the ingredients in diet-aid fruitss he was selling. ''You can find them when you read the instructions,'' he said.

''There are many instances in which small drug-making factories in local regions change the direction of out health foods without conducting sufficient research and with a view to make money'' a Chinese reporter said. ''They exchange them at prices that are more than 10 times the expense price. After earning exorbitant amounts of cash some traders sell fresh brands that show no clear ingredients.''

There are also voices terming check practices by authorities above diet aids as either lax or outright shoddy

A woman in Shanghai died last September after reportedly taking the diet-aid proceeds Yuzhitang Jianfei Jiaonang. Her family launched a campaign to memorize authorities to look into the matter and Guandong Province's health department inspected its maker earlier this year.

The department ordered the manufacturer in April to stop marketing the consequence Provincial authorities hastily checked in succession diet-food products that had been marketed without permission and banned the sale of 20 items in July after a rash of health damage cases occurr in Japan.

The items have since disappeared from places like as supermarkets. Yuzhitang's office in a public-house in Guangzhou remains shutter However, it was being sold at several unsalable article and cosmetic stores in the city.

The operators of as it was stores said they were afraid of selling Yuzhitang outcomes although they had other banned suitables on the shelves.

A saleswoman at one drugstore where Yuzhitang Jianfei Jiaonang was sold said a certain quantity of customers continue to buy it, and he will still put up to sale it if there is demand.

Chinese Health Ministry officials said the ministry cracked down forward makers of bogus and poor quality health-food cropss and cosmetics last year, and invalidated the manufacturing and sales permits of 5039 companies.

However, Health Minister Zhang Wenkang in April indicated that question s remain in police enforcement, saying at a national discourse that authorities will investigate any ties between officials and diet-aid traders as well as corruption, and that they will also look after the accountability of officials if they divert a blind eye to any wrongdoing in their assigned areas.

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