China is known to be one of the biggest producers of counterfeit products. However, this isn’t limited to designer goods – they also happen to be expert forgers of food. China is no stranger to fake food scandals – and with these items now sold worldwide thanks to websites such as Ebay and Amazon, it’s hard to gauge where these potentially dangerous food items may have ended up.
Remember the melamine-tainted baby milk formula in 2008? Manufacturers added melamine (a type of plastic) since its nitrogen-rich substance can artificially raise protein levels, but it’s toxic to humans. As a result, 300,000 babies were sick, with 6 fatalities.
But this hasn’t deterred unscrupulous manufacturers from trying to make a quick buck. From plastic rice to pepper which turned out being mud, some Chinese producers had created a new fruitful market which lasted until the police pulled these products off the market.
Here’s a list of just some of the food products which weren’t what people were expecting:
Plastic rice
How could it be possible to counterfeit rice? Well, apparently it’s possible and it has already happened. What is called “plastic rice” is indeed rice made from potatoes, sweet potatoes and, yes, synthetic resin molded into the shape of real rice. Delicious, right?
Apparently, eating only three bowl of this fake rice is equal to eating a vinyl bag or even an entire plastic bag. When cooked, the rice stays hard, and the film that rises to the top of the water can char.
However, ambitious Chinese producers did not stop here – they’ve even listed it on the market as the costly “Wuchang rice”, a finer type of rice. The fake Wuchang was produced by adding some flavours to the previous composition. The scariest thing is that only 800,000 tonnes of REAL Wuchang rice are produced annually, while reportedly 10 million tonnes are sold, so basically 9 million tonnes are fake!
While this rice is apparently common in some Chinese provinces like Taiyuan and Shaanxi, it has reportedly been found in countries like India, Indonesia and Vietnam. So far, there hasn’t been a real case of fake rice in Singapore.
Fake noodles
Another Chinese staple, little do people know what harmful ingredients can get into those little strands.
One scandal has revealed fake noodles produced by using rotten, stale and moldy grains (mostly used to feed animals). Also, such ingredients were then mixed with some cancer-causing additives as sulfur dioxide.
This recipe was followed by almost 50 different factories in Dongguan city which produced an amount of 500,000 kilograms of counterfeit noodles per day. (In addition, in one factory the staff were found stepping on the noodles while barefoot, and some were even sleeping on piles of noodles.) In Guangzhou, more than 5.5 tons of starch noodles were confiscated for allegedly containing black ink, industrial dye, and paraffin wax. According to factory workers, these fake starch noodles – made with corn instead of sweet potato – cost around 3,000 yuan a ton to make instead of 5,000 yuan.
Chemical tofu
In China, tofu is a healthy and nutritious source of protein – but not exactly so when it comes to fake tofu.
It’s been found that several cities in China produced tofu from a mixture of various chemicals. According to mainstream media in China, some were made with starch, sodium carbonate and a little soybean, while others used soy protein, starch, MSG and colouring agents.
One gang was even selling tofu made by adding rongalite, a substance related to cancer. This company was run by three cousins who have sold around 100 tons of counterfeit tofu and when the police investigated the factory – and its employees were found working without respecting proper hygiene (surprise, surprise).
Fake soy milk
Tofu wasn’t the only fake food made from soy – people have also made fake soy milk. This milk is obtained by mixing artificial soy milk powder with hot water and usually, producers directly sell it to street vendors. It’s cheap to produce, and many people make batches up in their home – totally ignoring hygiene standards – to sell to the public.
Overall, a Chinese person consumes almost 9 litres of soy milk a year and its consumption kept increasing since the government launched a campaign to spread its benefits, especially after the milk scandal in 2008. This resulted in a spike in real soy bean costs, hence those looking for a quick buck use cheap, fake ingredients.
Unfortunately, the difference in taste between the fake and the authentic milk is almost inconsistent and not so easy to spot.
Imitation eggs
Some Chinese websites have came out with some videos which showed how to earn $70 per day by producing and selling fake eggs. According to Xinhua, the cost of producing a fake egg is half of its real equivalent, and one person can produce 1,500 of them per day.
It makes a great science project – the recipe to follow included ingredients such as calcium carbonate (for shell), alginic acid, potassium alum, gelatin, calcium chloride and some other chemical substances with names which suggest immediately that they are not exactly natural or healthy.
Fake eggs are very smooth on the surface (it makes a hollow sound when cracked), and once cracked, the egg white and yolk would quickly mix. But unless you were looking out for it, its smell and taste would fool even a chef – check this out:
The consequences caused by eating those eggs were mostly dementia and memory loss. Why would people do it? We have no idea. These fake eggs have reportedly been around since the 90s, and according to Epoch Times, is still in production. To date, it hasn’t been seen in Singapore, but it has allegedly found its way to Thailand last year.
Fake Soy Sauce
You may have heard the scandal about soy sauce in China that’s not made from soy at all – they’re made from HUMAN HAIR. Surprisingly, there’s little actual soy in soy sauce, and the main flavouring is amino acid – and this is actually sourced from human hair, according to China’s CCTV media.
The hairs came from barbershops, salons and hospitals around the country, and then processed into amino acid syrup. This is a real scientific breakthrough, but unfortunately, its use is dubious at best. At least, according to consumers in China, they taste like the real thing.
Fake soy sauce is not just sold in China – worldwide, fake soy sauce has no soy and it’s made with hydrolyzed vegetable protein (similar to MSG), corn syrup (or cheap sugar), chemical flavour enhancers, and artificial colouring. These are common especially where cheap soy is concerned, like in soy sauce sachets. If in doubt, check the ingredients.
Cooking oil
The truth around this product has came out after that Radio Free Asia conducted an investigation around what was called “gutter oil”. This variety of oil was created from restaurant sewer refuse and rotten animal fat. It was refined and mostly sold to small restaurants or street vendors.
This oil is now illegal in China, but some are still producing as the government has been slow to eradicate this practice (they’ve been quicker about banning things like fandoms).
These are only some of the many fake food products which have invaded worldwide markets. For instance, Chinese producers have also created fake wine, adulterated honey, contaminated bottles of water, and even walnuts stuffed with cement.
So next time you’re looking for some food online, pay attention: it might not be as delicious as it seems!
By Marta Ciaraglia
