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Fake wine, tofu... and now eggs
Chinese consumers outraged as one stomach-churning food scandal follows another
By Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief
View more photos
BEIJING: China looks set to start the new year struggling with a food safety problem that it just cannot seem to overcome.
From fake wine and bleached mushrooms to chemicals in hot pots and counterfeit tofu, the country has been dogged by multiple food scandals in recent weeks, all coming after melamine-tainted milk killed six babies and made 300,000 ill in 2008.
In one of the latest stings, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) uncovered the process behind the making of fake eggs - a persistent practice that is dangerous because of the chemicals used.
Local media followed up with reports of rampant Do-It-Yourself DVDs being sold online that provide 'lessons' on how to make fake eggs. The disks are sold for 500 yuan (S$100) each.
The fake eggs, which are sold as the real thing for anything from 0.5 yuan each, cost only 0.05 yuan to produce, several times cheaper than real ones.
The series of scandals has angered experts and consumers.
Professor He Bin from the China University of Political Science and Law, who found widespread use of a fluorescent whitening agent in mushrooms after conducting tests, is planning to file a lawsuit against the capital's food supervisory authorities.
'There are no safeguards at all for the food safety of Beijing's 20 million-plus residents,' he wrote on his blog.
A worried Madam Zhang Rui, 36, a technical manager in an IT company, said: 'What can you eat in China any more? We are eating things which even ants avoid.'
One of the most shocking food safety violations in the past month involved steamboats, which are popular in China during winter. According to reports by CCTV and China National Radio, 80 per cent of the country's hotpots use chemical flavour-enhancing additives that contain harmful materials.
A Nanjing paper added that so many chemicals are used that the coastal city's supervision bureau could not tell which are dangerous.
This was followed by revelations last week of fake wine being sold in northern Hebei province, made up largely of water, chemicals and colouring agents and flavourings.
The chemicals can cause 'headaches and irregularities in the rhythm of the heart as well as cancer', wine expert Huang Weidong from the China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association told state media.
And last Wednesday, fake tofu was discovered in central Wuhan city. Its packaging even carried sophisticated anti-counterfeit laser film labels.
'It's frightening,' said Madam Zhang. 'I avoid hotpots, drink less wine, don't eat mushrooms and don't drink milk. But I fear there is just no running away.'
But some believe that China's problems of tainted food have been exaggerated by its media and netizens.
'The food safety problem in China is actually improving,' said Professor Luo Yunbo from the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering. 'Our people are living longer and they are healthier... we are paying more attention to the issue because it is often played up by the new media, sensationalising the problems.'
But, he acknowledged, Chinese consumers must also play their part. 'We talk about food safety, but are we willing to pay for it?' he said. 'Consumers in China want things cheap, so producers meet the demand by cutting corners.'
[email protected]
Additional reporting by Carol Feng
Making a fake egg as easy as 1-2-3
ACCORDING to reports in the Chinese media, this is how to make a fake egg:
1. Start with the yolk
Put sodium alga acid in a beaker full of water and stir. Add some calcium chloride powder. The mixture will become as yellow as an egg yolk. Pour the mixture into a half-sized table tennis ball and shake. It soon takes on a spherical shape resembling a yolk.
2. Add the white
Drop the fake yolk into a basin of colourless sodium alga acid and shake. Within minutes, a fake egg appears. It looks like a peeled preserved egg.
3. Finish off with the shell
A shell is made from calcium oxide, stearic acid and edible paraffins. After it is constructed, the fake egg is left alone and untouched to prevent cracking.
Chinese consumers outraged as one stomach-churning food scandal follows another
By Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief
View more photos
BEIJING: China looks set to start the new year struggling with a food safety problem that it just cannot seem to overcome.
From fake wine and bleached mushrooms to chemicals in hot pots and counterfeit tofu, the country has been dogged by multiple food scandals in recent weeks, all coming after melamine-tainted milk killed six babies and made 300,000 ill in 2008.
In one of the latest stings, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) uncovered the process behind the making of fake eggs - a persistent practice that is dangerous because of the chemicals used.
Local media followed up with reports of rampant Do-It-Yourself DVDs being sold online that provide 'lessons' on how to make fake eggs. The disks are sold for 500 yuan (S$100) each.
The fake eggs, which are sold as the real thing for anything from 0.5 yuan each, cost only 0.05 yuan to produce, several times cheaper than real ones.
The series of scandals has angered experts and consumers.
Professor He Bin from the China University of Political Science and Law, who found widespread use of a fluorescent whitening agent in mushrooms after conducting tests, is planning to file a lawsuit against the capital's food supervisory authorities.
'There are no safeguards at all for the food safety of Beijing's 20 million-plus residents,' he wrote on his blog.
A worried Madam Zhang Rui, 36, a technical manager in an IT company, said: 'What can you eat in China any more? We are eating things which even ants avoid.'
One of the most shocking food safety violations in the past month involved steamboats, which are popular in China during winter. According to reports by CCTV and China National Radio, 80 per cent of the country's hotpots use chemical flavour-enhancing additives that contain harmful materials.
A Nanjing paper added that so many chemicals are used that the coastal city's supervision bureau could not tell which are dangerous.
This was followed by revelations last week of fake wine being sold in northern Hebei province, made up largely of water, chemicals and colouring agents and flavourings.
The chemicals can cause 'headaches and irregularities in the rhythm of the heart as well as cancer', wine expert Huang Weidong from the China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association told state media.
And last Wednesday, fake tofu was discovered in central Wuhan city. Its packaging even carried sophisticated anti-counterfeit laser film labels.
'It's frightening,' said Madam Zhang. 'I avoid hotpots, drink less wine, don't eat mushrooms and don't drink milk. But I fear there is just no running away.'
But some believe that China's problems of tainted food have been exaggerated by its media and netizens.
'The food safety problem in China is actually improving,' said Professor Luo Yunbo from the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering. 'Our people are living longer and they are healthier... we are paying more attention to the issue because it is often played up by the new media, sensationalising the problems.'
But, he acknowledged, Chinese consumers must also play their part. 'We talk about food safety, but are we willing to pay for it?' he said. 'Consumers in China want things cheap, so producers meet the demand by cutting corners.'
[email protected]
Additional reporting by Carol Feng
Making a fake egg as easy as 1-2-3
ACCORDING to reports in the Chinese media, this is how to make a fake egg:
1. Start with the yolk
Put sodium alga acid in a beaker full of water and stir. Add some calcium chloride powder. The mixture will become as yellow as an egg yolk. Pour the mixture into a half-sized table tennis ball and shake. It soon takes on a spherical shape resembling a yolk.
2. Add the white
Drop the fake yolk into a basin of colourless sodium alga acid and shake. Within minutes, a fake egg appears. It looks like a peeled preserved egg.
3. Finish off with the shell
A shell is made from calcium oxide, stearic acid and edible paraffins. After it is constructed, the fake egg is left alone and untouched to prevent cracking.
