Chinese food 'made from cardboard'

[Ironcat]

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation.

Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. They are almost impossible to regulate.

State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district.

Baozi are a common snack in China, with an outer skin made from wheat or rice flour and and a filling of sliced pork. Cooked by steaming in immense bamboo baskets, they are similar to but usually much bigger than the dumplings found on dim sum menus familiar to many Americans.

The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.

The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground.

"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.

"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.

The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.

Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The reporter takes a bite.

"This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?"

"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."

The police eventually showed up and shut down the operation.

[nil8]

Ah, reminds me of ramen and vienna sausage month.

It's because pork prices are on the rise in China. It's all about cutting costs.

[jdbnsn]

mmmmmm......cardboard.....

[Ironcat]

It's because pork prices are on the rise in China.

*and today in the news...

Chinese Pork Attracting Robbers
Friday, July 13, 2007

BEIJING — Stick your hands up, we're after the pork.

Robbers in southern China have started stealing pork because rising prices have made the meat, a staple in the country, so valuable, a newspaper reported Friday.

The Shenzhen Jing newspaper said a peddler was robbed of his motorcycle and load of 275 pounds of pork while on his way to a market in Shenzhen, just over the border from Hong Kong.

He was robbed of the motorcycle and the pork by four suspects who rushed from a minibus and threaten him with a knife, according to report.

"They took the pork because it was more expensive than the motorcycle," a local policeman was quoted as saying. Pork prices have risen more than 40 percent over the past year.

The policeman said a stolen motorcycle can be sold for $132, while that amount of pork can be sold for more than $400.

The newspaper said the four robbers were caught.

[Crimson Sky]

the wife and I are trying our best not to buy any Chinese products. they hold the mighty dollar above all human life.

[calumc]

It's nice to see that you've got a few morals. But i think that the rest of us enjoy cheap stuff too much!
You're right though, china are undermining every major economy on the planet

[AJ@PR]

china are undermining every major economy on the planet

By definition, China is a major economy.

My 0.02:::
We're all moving along towards full globalization.
There's no closing the borders now, nor in the future.

[calumc]

apparently china isn't even the cheapest any more. My uncle works in publishing and he says that china is too expensive now, everything is going to smaller places like indonesia

[Ironcat]

I also try to "buy American" whenever possible...

This sounds confusing and I know what I mean even if it doesn't make sense... The problem is not that China undercuts everyone, the problem is that noone else can (or is willing to) do it for the same price.

[chaksq]

S*** they caught me.

Seriously though that is disgusting. And yeah, stuff from China is pretty much garbage. I can't afford the good stuff yet though, stupid min wage job. Oh well at least I usually end up buying quality stuff used rather than discount trash new.