Tag Archives: China

Chinese locals discouraged from eating saliva noodles

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An effort to eliminate "xian shui mian" or "saliva noodles" said to be invented by King Wen of Zhou, founder of the Zhou dynasty over 3000 years ago, is being encouraged in Changxing town of Meixian county in northwest China’s Shaanxi province.

The Chinese Business View reported on Thursday that the township government has launched a 500 yuan award for the first six families that do not treat their guests to "xian shui mian" during the New Year or Spring Festival.

Ma Binglin, an official with Changxing township government, further explained that they decided to alter the village dietary habits for the sake of their health since the noodle soup is reused many times and contains each diner’s saliva. The repeated use of the soup has brought about the name "saliva noodle," and is considered unsanitary.

"Saliva noodle," which carries a meaning of "a meal of family community and harmony", is popular in villages in the counties of Meixian, Wugong and Qianxian. In weddings, funerals, festivals and birthday feasts, traditionally guests are treated to saliva noodle.

Though "Xian Shui Mian" disgusts some of the local people, "It has a history of thousands of years and has taken root in local cultures. So it can’t be simply described as a bad habit. The custom could only be reformed but never removed," Mr. Wang said.

Eat Me Daily: Creepy Chinese food safety ads

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The folks over at Eat Me Daily have unearthed three food safety advertisements produced by the Beijing Women & Children’s Development Foundation.

“(They) are nicely executed but super-creepy: Kids enjoying themselves in playgrounds built out of giant food, etc. But on closer inspection, the pizza slices are topped with shards of glass, the hamburger is a scorpion-burger, sushi is infested with bugs, the jello is spiked with thumbtacks, a beehive stands in for a lollipop, and a landmine is disguised as a melon. The tagline, as translated by Ads of the World, "Do you really know about his food?"

I have asked a Chinese language colleague to try and translate the text in the adverts.

Addendum, from a Chinese instructor at Kansas State University:

The direct translation does sound like something else going on behind the scene (worries under line)

First one: His world is really safe?
Second:  His world is really worry free?
Third:  His world did you see/watch carefully?

China tries new communications, old-style detainments

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A group of Chinese dairy firms used some modern means to say, “we’re sorry” for killing and poisoning babies with melamine-contaminated milk, at the same time the Chinese government went back to detaining folks it doesn’t agree with.

The 22 firms sent a new year text message to millions of mobile phone subscribers apologizing for the melamine contamination scandal. The companies have asked forgiveness for the contamination of their products, which killed at least six babies and made almost 300,000 people ill.

Also today, Zhao Lianhai, the father of a child sickened by tainted milk, was detained by police to prevent a news conference by parents to complain that proposed compensation for their ill children is too low

Li Fangping, a lawyer for some of the parents, said,

"They said the compensation was unilaterally set by the companies with no participation from victims’ families. They thought the amount of compensation was quite low."

A farmer whose son suffered kidney stones and liver damage told The Associated Press this week the compensation wouldn’t even cover his medical expenses.
 

4 dead, 53,000 sick from melamine in Chinese baby powder; companies knew for months

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The Associated Press reports that four babies have died and almost 53,000 have been sickened from melamine in baby formula in China that now appears to date back to Dec. 2007.

An investigation by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, has found that for eight months, China’s biggest producer of powdered milk, Sanlu Group Co. “did not inform the government and did not take proper measures, therefore making the situation worse.”

Melamine, which can cause kidney stones and kidney failure in babies, has since been found in infant formula and other milk products from 22 of China’s dairy companies.

Also, Li Changjiang, who headed the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine since 2001, has resigned, a year after he and the government promised to overhaul the system.
 

Stay away from the Chinese baby formula – dozens of babies sick in China cause of melamine in baby formula

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Elizabeth Weise reports in the USA Today today that Chinese newspapers are reporting that infant formula has been linked to kidney problems and kidney stones in babies there because the formula contains melamine — the same industrial contaminant that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year.

No baby formula approved for use in the United States is manufactured in China, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"We want to reassure the public that there’s no contamination in the domestic supply of infant formula," says Janice Oliver, deputy of operations for FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

In addition, no U.S. manufacturers or marketers of infant formula receive ingredients from China. "We contacted all of them,’ says Oliver.

"Chinese-manufactured infant formula is illegal in the United States and should not be coming into the United States, and we have controls at the borders to insure that infant formula products don’t come in," says Oliver.

However, the agency is concerned that illegal infant formula may be sold in Asian and ethnic markets. That happened once before in 2004, when fake infant formula from China, which killed dozens of babies in that country, was found in at least one U.S. store.

The FDA is working with state officials to make sure that all Chinese, Asian and ethnic markets are aware of the problem, Oliver says. The agency is also alerting the Chinese community to avoid using China-produced formula.

Reports in the Chinese media from several provinces say that as many as 60 babies have been admitted to hospitals with kidney stones and that the illnesses have been linked to use of a specific brand of powdered infant formula.

Melamine is a by-product of plastic manufacturing. It can be used to mimic high-protein additives such as wheat and rice gluten. Adding melamine to ordinary wheat flour, for example, makes it test as if it is the higher protein, higher cost wheat gluten.

Beijing: Serving up water buffalo penis, yak’s testicles, and deer penis juice at the Guo-li-Zhuang restaurant

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China has been known to have a wide array of food items available at markets and restaurants.  Beijing’s Guo-li-Zhuang restaurant offers something even more exotic than fugu (puffer fish)  or fried whale. Here the menu consists almost entirely of penis and testicle dishes  — made from the private parts of deer, snakes, yaks, horses, seals and ducks, among others.

“Chinese eat anything with four legs, except tables. And everything that flies, except airplanes,” says business student Zhaoran, quoting a well-known Chinese saying. This may be true, but even in China a penis restaurant is unusual.

Guolizhuang’s owner, who set it up in November 2005, is proud to combine his own surname (Guo), his wife’s (Li) and his son’s nickname (Zhuang) into its title.  A booking comes with a trained waitress and a nutritionist in attendance, to explain the menu and to boast its medicinal virtues.

At the first thought of eating animal penises, most cringe.  But the Chinese consider it a health treatment for the libido, and repeatedly eating the penis and testicles of an animal is said to help raise the libido of men and cure kidney and erection problems.  For their medicinal effect to work, the dishes have to be consumed regularly.

There is also a wine available that is fast-acting and is said to work better than Viagra (without the side effects).  The wine contains extracts of heart, penis, and blood from a deer; it is said to taste like a bitter lemon.  Ladies are even invited to try some of the dishes.  Penis is said to be good for the skin, but women do not eat testicles in order to prevent masculine features from developing.

The meals served do not come cheap: A yak penis costs €179, while a hotpot with 10 different penis-and-testicle selections served on an attractive, four-sided plate tower with little statues of animals will set you back €89. For particularly discerning palates, the menu also offers deer and sheep fetuses (€36 and €9, respectively).

If you’ve made travel plans to enjoy the Olympics in Beijing, I suggest this restaurant as an adventurous dining experience.

BBC Reporter Stefan Gates speaks with one of the chefs about their menu items.

China GM: Our food is the safest in the world

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Those Chinese learn fast.

No sooner had I posted about a USDA official proclaiming that the U.S. had the safest meat supply in the world as 25 were barfing from E. coli O157:H7, then China jumped into the fray, borrowing a page from the US, Canadian, British and Kiwi (and lots of other countries) playbook.

Zhong Yuhua, the general manager, Fusheng Food Co., was quoted as telling reporters who were invited on a government-organized tour of three food exporters in Shandong province, southeast of Beijing that,

"I am very confident in saying our food is excellent and the safest in the world."

The story says that Fusheng is part of a Chinese food industry elite of export-oriented companies that, often with foreign help, have improved quality to meet import standards in Japan, the United States and elsewhere.

I don’t believe any of youse. How about a moratorium on, "We have the safest food in the world," until someone publishes some meaningful comparative data in a peer reviewed journal. Or at least back the statement up with some data. Anything. Bland blanket statements serve only to amplify rather than mollify consumer concerns.

Chicken in the coal mine

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One Chinese family on the southern island province of Hainan decided to test a bottle of water on a chicken to see what would happen.

The Beijing News, citing a report in a local paper, said, "The result was the chicken died within a minute," and showed a picture of a man holding a plastic bottle squatting over the crumpled body of the bird.

The story says that barely a day goes by without some new scandal over a made-in-China product, be it toys, toothpaste or fish, which has raised safety concerns in major export markets around the world.

Play it again

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The Beijing News reported Wednesday that a Beijing factory recycled used chopsticks and sold up to 100,000 pairs a day without any form of disinfection, adding that officials raided the factory and seized about half a million pairs of recycled disposable bamboo chopsticks and a packaging machine.

The owner, identified only by his surname Wu, was cited as saying he had sold the recycled chopsticks for 0.04 yuan a pair and made an average of about 1,000 yuan ($130) a day.

Wu, who had no license to sell the goods, said he had sold 100,000 pairs a day when business was good.