Deaths caused by food-poisoning in China increased by almost a third last year though the overall number of incidents dropped, according to the Health Ministry. The report comes as China continues to battle a series of scandals over product quality control–from contaminated medicines to tainted dumplings and pet feed. Reuters reports:
A total of 258 people died from food poisoning last year, up a little under 32 percent on 2006, the ministry-published Health News said.
There were also 11 cases in which more than 100 people fell ill from food poisoning, but a fall of just over a quarter in total incidents, it added.
In all, 13,280 people fell sick, the report said.
While providing no explanation for the figures, it said that most cases happened in the third quarter of the year.
