South China police investigate Viagra alcohol

Police in south China are looking into allegations that two distillers in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region added a banned food additive used to treat erectile dysfunction to their liquors.

Inspectors with the local food and drug administration found the Guikun Alcohol Plant and the Deshun Alcohol Plant in Liuzhou City were putting Sildenafil, more commonly known as Viagra, into three of their baijiu (white alcohol) products, according to a statement released by the administration on Sunday.

The products were all marketed as having health-preserving qualities, it said.

Law enforcement officers have confiscated 5,357 bottles of the suspect products, 1,124 kg of raw alcohol and a batch of white powder labeled Sildenafil, in a case worth more than 700,000 yuan (112,700 U.S. dollars).

The case has been transferred to local police, the statement said.