(Yicai Global) March 16 -- Authorities in northern China’s Cangzhou have arrested two business people who are suspected of helping farmers give their sheep a type of drug that may accelerate the animals' growth while keeping their meat lean.

The municipal government is tracing the source of clenbuterol, it said in a statement posted on its WeChat account today.

China Central Television reported in its annual consumer rights show 315 yesterday that farmers in Qingxian county in Hebei province give their sheep the medicine that has been banned in China since 2002.

Seven food companies, including Walmart, Carrefour, CSF Market, Miss Fresh, and Dingdong Maicai, have quickly responded to the report by saying that they have not found the substance in their mutton products, the Beijing News reported.

Many farmers in Qingxian county, which breeds as many as 700,000 sheep each year, have been convicted of producing and selling clenbuterol before, according to the China Judgements Online.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi