Vintage cars show kicks off in London
Gorgeous scenery in NE China
Picturesque Barkol grassland in Xinjiang
Small Wild Goose Pagoda - A World Cultural Heritage Site along the Silk Road
Maritime Silk Road Luxuries of the Han Dynasty
Ciao! Chinese beauties!
An eye feast: BFA freshmen registration
Top 10 most lavish weddings
Most amazing chi-pao beauties
Chinese lingerie brand arrives in Las Vegas
BEIJING, Sept. 23 -- China's drug watchdog has found 12 percent of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) materials and tablets in a random sample check to be substandard, saying the quality situation is "not optimistic."
Irregularities including artificial coloring, weight-increasing practices and contamination by counterfeit or substandard ingredients were found in 93 out of 772 batches of TCM materials and tablets, according to a statement released Tuesday by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).
Sold by weight and mostly processed from plants and animals parts, TCM ingredients are often altered through deceptive practices such as soaking them in salt water to increase their weight and mixing them with cheap but similar materials.
The statement noted that the products checked were randomly collected from TCM manufacturers, sellers and users across the country, adding that groups related to questionable products will be punished by local drug administrations.
The statement didn't name specific groups involved.
The CFDA vowed to strengthen quality supervision of TCM products and severely crack down on illegal fraud that harms the interests of consumers and drug safety.
Military training in Hong Kong
Teahouses in Chongqing: Worship to the leisure lifestyle
Giant white gourd weighing 87 kilograms appears in SE China
Advanced arms help to safeguard China-ASEAN Expo
Leading director Wang Quan'an detained for 'buying sex'
Heaven on earth: Dongjiang Lake in Hunan
Mixed reaction to smartphone sidewalk
Amazing aerial photos of China's Xisha Islands
Top 10 world's highest-paid models 2014
Lingerie show at 2014 Miss China
Songstress Li Xianglan dies at 94
Police recruiting posters
Anshun Daxi- Living fossil of Chinese drama
Urban farmers in China
'Firepower-2014 Weibei'military exerciseDay|Week|Month