In all countries of the world serious incidents around the food industry have occurred. No one is free of guilty. Tampering , banned additives , poisoning and countless irregularities to which the authorities often tailgating the " genius " of the producers. But if a country takes the cake about food uncare that is definitely China. I guess the reason must be that there are many mouths to feed, but some practices carried out in the past can not be justified either as a result of the most perverse mind. Not for all the world hunger. Here are some .
Swollen head syndrome
In 2004 around 70 babies died from adulterated milk intake . After a few days of taking the milk powder children 's head swelled as his body weakened because the toxic substitute containing only 1.5 % protein instead of 10 % minimum required by Chinese law . Authorities arrested 47 people accusing them of food fraud .
Peppercorns mud
In Guangdong province was discovered a strange kind of pepper : pepper did not taste as pepper. Arrested manufacturer cleared reason : peppercorns were made of mud breaded with flour and then fried. Nobody died for that 'pepper' , and even authorities wondered what was the reason that the producer had to adulterate a product that does not generate large profits. The explanation was that to 'make' pepper was much more easy that to make the harvest.
Eggs
If you think the explanation given by the producer of clay peppercornsis a bit silly , the story of chicken eggs is simply incredible . Several Chinese producers have succeeded in manufacturing artificial eggs . The yolk and white are achieved by mixing different types of resin , coagulants , thickening and coloring with zero nutritional value . The shell is made of calcium carbonate and external appearance is indistinguishable from the real egg . While a "natural" hen can lay an average of 250-300 eggs a year , in the case of artificial eggs you can get 1,500 in a day per worker , comparable to the production of a farm of medium-large size. What was the fine given to the responsibles of this fraud? None . In fact still they are producing artificial eggs, justifying it as a cheap alternative to real egg .
Soy sauce made of human hair
The title of this fraud is self explanatory . The "soy sauce " was extracted from the human hair in a similar way the soy sauce is extracted from seeds. Authorities banned this fraud , arguing that " having obtained soy from barber hair , hygiene conditions were not right ." No comment.
Watermelons exploding
The forchlorfenuron is a hormone that stimulates the growth of plants and therefore accelerates the production of crops . What nobody told Chinese farmers is that watermelons do not like this hormone , so with the rapid growth tend to explode like hand grenades. Hundreds of farmers lost their crops and local media drew a few laughs at his expense.
Contamination of infant formula with melamine
The Chinese did not learn anything with " Syndrome Swollen Head" . In 2008, six babies died while about 300,000 seriously ill . The vast extent of the poisoning was due to the supplier of infant milk Sanlu Group. Sanlu is one of the largest food companies in the country. The company declared shamelessly that it knew about melamine in milk for months but it was a problem of its suppliers , not of theirs .
Drain oil
What is the oil drain? It is the oil obtained from industrial fryers , restaurants etc and lead directly to the recycling center cause it's toxic and can pollute the enviroment . However, in China this oil has a second life. There are companies that collect drain oil, filter it , and provide it a similar look to the original oil , selling it for human consumption. The drain oil contains toxins that can not be removed easily causing severe intestinal problems and cancer at long term. Chinese food authorities are controlling this drain oil since 2010, but it has not been eradicated yet.
And these cases are only a "slight " sample of hundred of food 'issues' occurring in ancient China almost daily ...