The latest food scandal emanating from China this time around revolves around the use of poppy powder as seasoning in food served in restaurants. Perhaps, this revelation would have jolted customers to awareness as to why they fell in love with those soups and seafood dishes!
RT News reported that three dozen restaurants were found to be illegally using poppy powder for seasoning. Poppy powder is banned as a food additive in China, can be purchased easily in markets from the west of the country.
In addition five restaurants are prosecuted while 30 more are under investigation for using the active ingredient in drugs such as morphine and heroin.
The China Food and Drug Administration announced news on Wednesday setting out the restaurants involved which included Huda - a popular chain in Beijing. Manager at Huda claimed that they had unknowingly sourced seasoning containing opiates.
It contains a higher level of opiates than poppy seeds commonly used on bagels. The poppy powder is thought to be used in soups and seafood dishes. It is not clear if the addition of the poppy powder merely created a high in the customer or an addiction as it were.
According to BBC in their latest report, seven restaurants in Ningxia province were closed in 2012 for using opium poppies and in Guizhou province in 2004 authorities shut down 215 establishments for similar offences.
ABC News reported that poppy powder made from capsules and shells that contain higher opiate content can be purchased in markets in western China for about $60 a kilogramme, according to a 2014 report by the official Xinhua news agency. The additives were commonly mixed with chilli oil and powders, making detection difficult without laboratory equipment.
The government of China - notwithstanding continued pledges - to improve enforcement have failed to avert the disastrous food scandals that the Chinese customers perennially face. Some of the high-profile scandals ranged from tainted baby milk to fake meat and fruits to seafood pumped with gelatine.
The Chinese food scandals spilled beyond its borders in 2014 when a Shanghai-based supplier to companies including KFC, Starbucks and McDonalds was found selling unsanitary and expired chicken meat.
Chinese cuisine and restaurants are enjoyed the world over. This latest scandal does add a touch of worry for Chinese food lovers. Unless enforcement is tight by government authorities it is unlikely that food scandals of this nature and others happening in China would go away.
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