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Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has revealed details of the second major food scandal to rock China this year, this time involving goji berries that were soaked in a banned chemical and then smoked.
in In a report aired on Sunday, The bureau spoke to goji berry farmers and traders across 14 towns in Jingyuan county, Gansu province, and also visited farms in Golmud city, Qinghai province.
At least a half-dozen farmworkers and distributors openly described on camera how farms soak the berries in sodium metabisulfite, a substance banned in the industry, and spray them with industrial sulfur to preserve their appearance.
“Sulfur-smoked fish is a beautiful red color,” one shop owner told the station, “and it keeps the fish fresh longer and keeps out pests. It’s highly toxic.”
Surveillance Cameras The footage aired A farm worker prepares a container of thick, foaming sodium metabisulfite before washing goji berries with the dangerous chemical, which is sometimes used in food preservation but is banned in the local goji berry industry. According to state media.
Instead of drying the harvest in the sun, some farms are also taking the added step of smoking the berries with industrial sulphur, according to footage released by CCTV.
Goji berries (also known as wolfberries) are popular in traditional Chinese medicine and dishes such as hotpot, and have been marketed as a superfood in the West. In 2023, mainland China will have an estimated 14,000 tonnes of goji berries.
“Nobody knows people like you who sell elsewhere,” one trader told CCTV. “They just look nice.”
Many traders and farmers spoke about the harms of eating chemically contaminated goji berries but said the practice was common.
“With sulfur, it sells for 17 to 18 yuan per catty. Without it, it sells for 10 to 9 yuan per catty. It’s not a cheap price,” said one rural worker.
CCTV said officials tested the goji berries and found they were all inedible.
The day after the report was released, the Jingyuan County Food Safety Commission said it had launched an investigation into local goji berry production and sales.
“Those who violate the law and regulations will be severely punished in accordance with the law.” the office said in a statement.
Golmud City Government It issued a similar statement on Monday.
The goji berry scandal comes just two months after another major food safety incident shocked the nation.
State media Beijing News reported in early July that it had found multiple cases of unwashed chemical tankers being used to transport edible oil, a practice that it said had become so common that workers said it was the industry standard.
China has been plagued by a decades-long history of food scandals, from tainted milk powder to restaurants reusing gutter oil, which has eroded domestic consumers’ trust in commercially available foods.
From his earliest days as China’s top leader, President Xi Jinping has pledged to crack down on food safety violations and said it would be central to how people perceive their government.
“If our party can govern China and not even ensure food safety, and cannot maintain it in the long term, then people will begin to question whether we are fit to govern,” he said in 2013.
Allegations of excessive sulfur fumigation have previously emerged in China’s traditional medicine industry, leading retailers to smear goji berries and other products. “No sulfites used.”