■ China
McDonald's clarifies its fats
McDonald's says french fries sold in its Chinese stores contain no trans fat, following revelations that its fries sold elsewhere contain a third more of the substance than previously thought. In a news release from Shanghai, McDonald's said yesterday that it uses only fatty acid-free palm oil to make french fries in China. "The taste of McDonald's is the same all over the world. However, we adjust our ingredients to match the different situations in disparate markets," the company said. McDonald's said results of a new testing method it began using in December showed that the level of trans fat in a portion of large fries is 8g, up from 6g, with total fat increasing to 30g from 25g. It also admitted for the first time that wheat and dairy ingredients are used to flavor its french fries in the US. McDonald's director of global nutrition, Cathy Kapica, said its potato suppliers remove all wheat and dairy proteins, such as gluten. But the flavoring agent in the cooking oil is a derivative of wheat and dairy ingredients, and McDonald's decided to note their presence because of US requirements that potential allergens be disclosed.
■ China
Party members punished
About 115,000 members of the Chinese Communist Party -- almost 2 percent of its total membership -- were punished last year for corruption and other offences, the Xinhua news agency said yesterday. Around 15,000 party members were handed over to judicial authorities for suspected involvement in criminal activities, Xinhua said, citing a report issued on Monday by the party's central disciplinary watchdog. Another 24,000 were expelled from the party between December 2004 and last November, it said.
■ Hong Kong
Zen to be cardinal?
Hong Kong's Roman Catholic leader, Bishop Joseph Zen (陳日君), 74, will likely become a cardinal next month, local news reports said yesterday. Pope Benedict XVI was "eager" that there be a new Chinese cardinal and Zen was the leading candidate, the South China Morning Post said, quoting an unidentified senior Vatican source. Zen, a fierce critic of Beijing, told reporters that he had not received notification of the elevation and dismissed the reports as rumor. The reports were "only newspapers' speculations," the Ming Pao daily quoted Zen as saying.
■ Malaysia
Golf liners stolen
A golf course in Malaysia has a bigger problem than players cheating on their handicaps -- someone stole the aluminum liners from 12 of its holes. The 300g cylindrical liners, imported from the US and costing about 128 ringgit (US$34) each, were apparently stolen to be sold as scrap metal, the Royal Johor Country Club acting manager Majid Manjit Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper yesterday. "The thief or thieves must really be desperate," Majid said, adding that this was the first time he had heard of such a theft. "We have since replaced the stolen items with a plastic version," he said.
■ Japan
Mushroom may be harmful
The government has warned that a mushroom believed by folk doctors to fight cancer could actually promote the condition, leading a health-food firm to recall it in a blow to a huge market. Originally from Brazil, the Agaricus mushroom was popularized in the 1990s as companies sold it in processed form. But interim results of tests on rats showed that they suffered more carcinogen activity if they ate granulated food with five to 10 times the normal dose of the mushroom, the health ministry said on Monday. The ministry said it was not yet proven if humans were at risk from the mushrooms, but asked Kirin Well-Foods, a subsidiary of Kirin Brewery, to recall the Agaricus formula voluntarily.
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