Many parts of China are actually known for their fine cuisine, but its food industry has taken a lot of heat lately for its troubling lack of standards (and for good reason).
People everywhere are avoiding food imports from China, and it’s easy to understand why.
For years, China has been inventive in creating outrageously-toxic fake products and food items. While there is no evidence that the vast majority of these products is being sold in the United States, sites such as eBay and some vendors on Amazon.com have been seen selling food that sometimes openly, sometimes discreetly are being made and often shipped straight from the country.
The list below is just ten examples of illegal counterfeit food product from China, that may make you think twice about purchasing food from online sources that ship from across the ocean.
1. Imitation Eggs
Some Chinese websites have come out with instructional videos on how to make $70 a day by producing and selling fake eggs. The chemicals that are required are “Alginic Acid, Potassium Alum, Gelatin, Calcium Chloride, water and artificial color.” The eggshells are made from Calcium Carbonate. Eating these eggs may cause memory-loss and dementia.
2. Making beef out of pork
Because pork is less expensive in China, some restaurants have sold it instead of beef – but not before they performed some chemistry on it. What they use are a beef extract and a glazing agent to “marinate” the meat in for 90 minutes. Doctors have advised people to stay away from this fake product as its long-term use may cause “slow poisoning, deformity, and even cancer.”
3. Walnuts stuffed with cement
In 2012 a man purchased shelled walnuts in Zhengzhou city, China only to find broken concrete pieces inside. The concrete was wrapped in paper to prevent it from making a suspicious noise when the nut was shaken. The vendor who sold the walnuts was trying to gain more profit by selling these fake nuts that were much heavier than the real thing. More photos are shown at this Chinese news site.
4. Tilapia Fish
The fish are bottom feeders and will eat almost anything. With water pollution, the way it is in China, eating anything raised in that water would be unsafe to say the least. Plus, who knows what the fish are being fed. There is, also, one study that states tilapia is less healthy than bacon.
5. Fake green peas
In 2005, fake peas were found in Hunan province, China. According to a local newspaper, the peas were still hard after boiling, yet turned the water unnatural green color. The fake peas were reported to be very profitable, and one of the illegal workshop was producing them for three years before it was investigated.The fake peas were created with snow peas and soy beans, added with green dye and sodium metabisulfite (used as bleach and preservative). This dye is forbidden to use on produce because it may cause cancer, as well as obstruct the body’s ability to absorb calcium.
“Such toxic artificial green peas have been found in Hunan and Guangdong before, but it looks like the news didn’t catch enough attention from the officials,” said Sang Liwei, a Beijing-based food safety expert.
In China, officials only label a case a “food safety incident” when at least one person dies as the result of it, according to the source.
“In cases like this, where the danger only lies in possible long-term diseases caused by the misuse of additives, it’s not surprising to see lagged handlings,” said Sang Liwei.
6. Mud sold as black pepper
A market vendor in China’s Guangdong Province collected local mud and sold it as black pepper, while their white pepper was mainly made out of flour. His excuse for justifying selling these fake items was that they “would not kill people.”
Considering that fake foods in China do not get investigated until someone dies, how many more items are sold made of fake items and chemicals because they “would not kill people.” At least, not immediately.
7. Industrial salt sold as table salt
Industrial salt is labeled “unfit for human consumption.” Yet it is much cheaper, which is why 788 tons of it was sold by at least 12 people over the course of 13 years as table salt. The industrial salt can cause mental and physical issues, such as hypothyroid problems and reproductive system disorders.
8. Fake Sweet Potato Noodles
A facility in Zhongshan city, China made at least 5.5 tons of fake noodles. In 2011, people started complaining that what were supposed to be sweet potato noodles tasted strange. Further investigation led to a revelation that the noodles were composed of corn with an industrial ink used to give them a purple color, and paraffin wax.
9. Chicken
In 2013, the US Department of Agriculture approved the sale of chicken from China in the United States. As with fish, this is a pollution and feeding issue. China is commonly plagued with avian flu and other foodborne illnesses.
10. Plastic Rice
Huge amounts of fake rice has been seized in China, and it is believed that much of it is produced from potatoes combined with a synthetic resin. Just like the peas, the rice stayed hard after boiling. Also like the peas, its long-term consumption could cause cancer.
The goal? To make money, of course, as scam artists have been imitating a popular type of Chinese rice called “Wuchang.”
Source: Alt Health Works
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