Three people have been detained in connection with a pig-feed addictive poisoning that has sent 70 people to hospital in south China's Guangdong Province, a government official said on Saturday.

Forty-six people in Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital, were poisoned on Thursday after eating pig organs that contained an animal-feed additive. In the next two days, 24 others were sickened for the same reason.

They were all hospitalized for stomach aches and diarrhea. Three people remain in the hospital for further observation, said a spokesman of the city's food safety office.

An investigation found the poisonous pork was contaminated by Clenbuterol, a chemical used to prevent pigs from accumulating fat. It is banned as an additive in pig feed in China because it is poisonous to humans and can be fatal.

The spokesman said the pork entered Guangzhou market from the central Hunan Province. The wholesale market, where the problematic pigs were found, has been under round-the-clock surveillance.

The three people under detention were accused of producing and selling the poisonous pork.

A further investigation is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2009)