10. Oranges, Peaches - This is a fruit storage warehouse located in the Hongxing Farm in the southern suburbs of Fuzhou City. The warehouse is piled with boxes of oranges, and the air is filled with a strong musty smell.
Reporter: Such a strong musty smell!
Several workers are removing the freshness-preserving bags from the boxes of oranges.
Reporter: What's this for?
Worker: These are dirty, need to change the bags.
The reporter noticed that many of the unpacked oranges had developed mold spots. What were these already moldy oranges going to be used for?
Reporter: What are you peeling them for?
Worker: After peeling, they will be dressed up. Dress them up.
The boss then took out a small medicine bottle, picked out some red powder, and poured it into a basin of colorless oily liquid for mixing. The oily substance in the basin quickly turned deep red, and this deep red oily substance was applied to the sponge in the basin. Subsequently, the dried oranges were placed into the basin.
According to the boss, this was done to wax and color the oranges. This red powder is a pigment, and this oily substance is paraffin. Adding alum can make sweeteners, monosodium glutamate, alcohol, water, etc., quickly penetrate into the peach flesh, which can increase the weight and also make unripe, sour peaches become crisp and fragrant.
Expert: Alum should not be added, why? Because alum contains aluminum, which affects children's intelligence as discussed in previous episodes. Besides this, the entire production method, this water, the microorganisms, bacteria count, and E. coli in the water must exceed standards. So it often causes diarrhea among consumers.
11. Medical and Health Materials Pose Hidden Dangers
The Dingluan Town in Changyuan County, Henan Province, is known as China's "Health Material Hometown" and is one of the main distribution centers for health materials in our country. However, during interviews in Dingluan Town, reporters found that the health material wholesale market there was deserted, with many shops closed.
We decided to follow Mr. Ma to the processing point to take a look. In a small room, a woman was sewing surgical gowns.
After investigating more than ten health material processing points in Dingluan Town, reporters found that these processing points were all family workshops with poor production environments and hygiene conditions. In a cotton swab workshop, reporters saw that the pockets containing bamboo sticks were actually fertilizer woven bags. The ceiling was covered with cotton fluff and dust.
The National Food and Drug Administration's issued "Management Specification for the Production of Sterile Medical Instruments" clearly stipulates that the sterile health instrument production workshop should have a shoe-changing room, an outerwear room, a washroom, an air blow-off room, and an air conditioning purification system. During the investigation, reporters found that the workshops producing health materials in Dingluan Town did not possess these production conditions, but their business was getting increasingly prosperous.
12. Sunflower Seeds
Taiping Street Market is the largest sunflower seed wholesale market in Bengbu City, Anhui Province. Here, various types of sunflower seeds are sold, much loved by consumers. This stall owner introduced us to these sunflower seeds, all locally processed. Compared to those produced elsewhere, due to their good appearance, bright color, and resistance to moisture-induced softening, they have always sold well.
At Zhenxiang Roasted Goods Factory in Bengbu City, reporters saw warehouses stacked with raw materials for processing sunflower seeds, covered with dust. (Empty shot) The boss told us that they were processing white sunflower seeds. A worker poured a white powdered substance into a pot of boiling sunflower seeds.
Reporter: What are you putting in?
Worker: Alum.
Reporter: How much alum do you put in this pot?
Worker: Put in as much as you want.
According to this worker, using alum to boil sunflower seeds prevents them from becoming damp and soft, maintaining a good texture.
How to identify:
Sunflower Seed Production Process Expert Mingqiao Lai: When consumers buy sunflower seeds, how do they distinguish between high-quality sunflower seeds and those with talcum powder or paraffin? Taking watermelon seeds as an example, we first look at their appearance. High-quality watermelon seeds have a yellow middle and black edges, with a very clear boundary between the two colors. Inferior products often have unclear surface colors. Additionally, some sunflower seeds with talcum powder or paraffin have white crystalline substances on their surfaces, making them feel slippery. Below, let's do an experiment. There are two piles of sunflower seeds here. When we slowly lift this flat plate, when the plate reaches about 45 degrees, the pile with talcum powder slides down, while the good ones remain still.
13. Blended Rice Wine
Shaoxing rice wine is representative of Chinese rice wine, famous nationwide for its rich aroma and good taste. During interviews in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, reporters found that most manufacturers strictly adhere to national standards to produce qualified premium rice wine. But at Hutang Winery in the same area, reporters discovered that their rice wine was different from others, with a different taste.
Reporter: Master, why are you sucking with your mouth?
Worker: Without sucking with your mouth, how could it flow out? It won't flow out.
Reporter: Is sucking with your mouth hygienic?
Worker: It's not hygienic, but there's no way. To get the wine out, without sucking with your mouth, it won't flow out.
Workers were adding tap water to the wine pool. This wine pool can hold around 3000 kilograms of rice wine (measured with a stick). However, after measurement, reporters found that the depth of the added rice wine was less than one-fourth of the wine pool's depth.
Since dilution is to reduce the alcohol content of rice wine, why add a large amount of liquor and alcohol after dilution? The technician finally revealed the truth: Dilution is actually to increase production, selling water at the price of wine. However, due to excessive dilution, it is necessary to add alcohol and liquor to increase the alcohol content. Rice wine diluted with tap water has much poorer taste and color compared to purely brewed rice wine, so special blending is required. The technician began adjusting the color of the wine.
According to national standards, except for caramel color, no food additives may be added during rice wine blending. However, to give the bland wine after dilution with tap water some flavor, various additives must be added. Reporters found that the water used to dissolve saccharin and salt was actually the water used to soak wine bottles.
14. Industrial Salt Pickles
Sichuan pickles sound like an unremarkable side dish, but in fact, they are just as famous as Sichuan hotpot. Sichuan pickles can be eaten directly or used as ingredients to make dishes like sour cabbage fish and others. They taste good and go well with rice. In Sichuan, almost every household eats pickles almost every day. However, a pickle factory owner told us: they themselves don't eat their own pickles, only giving them to outsiders. Could it be that they've changed their long-standing habit?
Reporter: Why is the water this color?
Worker: It's mixed with something to prevent spoilage.
Boss: This is made with boiling water and sodium benzoate.
According to national standards, the amount of sodium benzoate used in pickle processing should not exceed five ten-thousandths. However, the amount used in this factory exceeded the standard by six times.
Workers directly mix the cut pickles, cooked seasonings, and preservative water thoroughly in a large basin, then package and seal them before they hit the market.
Reporter: Why are there so many bugs?
Boss: There were bugs when the pickles were brined, but they disappeared after applying pesticides.
After a while, a worker started spraying pesticide into the brining pool.
This worker also told us that to prevent bugs, pickles are sprayed with pesticide every few days before leaving the factory.
Reporter: Is this an agricultural insecticide?
Worker: Yes, it's low toxicity.
What is this "medicine"? Both the worker and the boss said they didn't know.
15. Pingyao Beef
Speaking of Pingyao, Shanxi, it is a world-famous ancient city, and Pingyao beef is a renowned brand in this ancient city, praised for its unique formula and distinctive production process. However, in Pingyao, an owner said that in his processing point, any kind of meat could be processed into so-called "Pingyao beef." Can beef be made without using beef? Let's take a look.
He revealed that horse and mule meat mixed with beef would be processed and sold as beef, undetected by anyone. He said that using horse and mule meat to make beef wasn't significant; what mattered was the technology. As long as the technology was solid, any kind of meat could be processed into so-called "Pingyao beef."
To understand the miraculous technology the boss was proud of, on the third day, the reporter revisited the processing point. The courtyard was piled with segmented meat, part of it being beef, and more of it horse and mule meat. The boss was injecting water into the meat nearby.
Reporter: Have you just finished injecting water?
Boss: Just finished injecting medicine.
He told the reporter that what was injected into the meat wasn't ordinary water but a specially formulated medicinal solution. Seeing that the medicine in the pot was running out, the boss brought out a bag and added some yellow powder to the pot. He said this was the medicine for mixing, an indispensable thing for making counterfeit beef here.
Reporter: What is this?
Boss: This is secretly brought by someone else. If caught, fines would be imposed. It's private salt, not allowed to be sold.
Boss: Salt is state-controlled, but the salt we use can be called private salt.
16. Old Vinegar
Jointly building a quality life, this is "Weekly Quality Report," everyone, hello. We often say, the seven daily necessities: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea. When mentioning vinegar, our first reaction is sourness. Besides sourness, what other tastes are there? A consumer in Henan province actually tasted bitterness in the vinegar and detected a pungent smell. What kind of vinegar is this? Where is it produced?
In Qingxu County, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, there are nearly 100 vinegar production enterprises, producing over 100,000 tons of aged vinegar and old vinegar annually, known as China's "Vinegar Capital." The famous nationwide base for producing Shanxi old vinegar — Shanxi Water Tower Group — is located in Mengfeng Town, not far from the county seat. In Xibao Village, Mengfeng Town, we found Laixier Vinegar Factory, less than a kilometer away from the Water Tower Group. In the office of Laixier Vinegar Factory, we met the boss of the factory. According to them, all the vinegar produced in the factory is brewed, obtaining the "Food Production License" in September 2003, and the product can rival the "Water Tower" brand.
Reporter: Why add coloring?
Technician: The color of aged vinegar should be dark, but this original vinegar is too light.
Reporter: Adding coloring makes it darker, resembling aged vinegar.
Reporter: Isn't it unhygienic to use your mouth?
Technician: Hygiene. How is it unhygienic?
Reporter: Hygiene.
Technician: Hygiene.
Main text
From washing bottles, filling, to labeling and packaging, everything is concentrated in this room of only seventy or eighty square meters. The workshop is cluttered with miscellaneous items. The "Food Safety" logo was discarded on the ground, trampled by workers.
17. Hot Pot Base
Chaotianmen Small Food Wholesale Market is one of the largest food wholesale markets in Chongqing. In this market, among the various foods sold, there is a local specialty: hot pot base. It is understood that in Chongqing, although the manufacturers producing this packaged hot pot base are different, the packaging is quite similar, mostly marked with "Chongqing Specialty," "Chongqing Hot Pot, Spicy Hotpot," etc. The boss here told the reporter that it is hard to tell the quality of the hot pot base from the packaging, but it can be felt by hand.
Reporter: What is the coagulant?
Boss: Coagulant increases hardness.
This boss reluctantly revealed a bit of the secret under repeated questioning by the reporter.
Reporter: What is the coagulant?
Boss: Chemical raw material.
The main raw materials for producing hot pot base include beef tallow, Sichuan pepper, fermented broad bean paste, spices, etc. Some manufacturers lower costs by using artificial flavors instead of natural spices.
Reporter: What is this?
Boss of Liu Xin Food Factory: This is edible (paraffin) wax.
Reporter: Is this paraffin?
Reporter: What is the general function of paraffin?
Worker: Increases hardness.
Reporter: Hardness?
Worker: Yes.
Although the boss of Liu Xin Food Factory admitted adding paraffin as a coagulant in the hot pot base, he explained that the type of paraffin used is edible.
18. Dumplings
Tianjin Xingda Food Factory is actually a small workshop. A small room outside serves as the meat grinder workshop, with dim lighting and walls covered with dust. A meat grinder and several large barrels are the main equipment here. (Empty shot) This young man wearing glasses claimed to be the factory's technician. He said that the pork they used were leftovers discarded during pig slaughter.
Reporter: What kind of meat is this?
Technician: Leftover scraps cut off with a knife, discarded by pig butchers.
Reporter: Why are you stirring with your hands?
Technician: Hands are more effective than sticks. Sticks have a smaller area, and hands are more flexible.
Reporter: Is this hygienic?
Technician: Hygiene. Everything is made by hand, food is made by hand.
The operation table was covered with dust, and the workers just wiped it off. The entire production process here is manual. The workers are too lazy to wash their hands before making dumplings.
Reporter: Why don't you wash your hands?
Worker: We don't eat them ourselves.
The workers packing dumplings also said they don't have the habit of washing their hands. The smoke from the homemade stove filled the small room with dust and fumes. This worker was even smoking.
Reporter: What if the cigarette ash falls into the dumplings?
Worker: No problem, mix it in, and it's still edible.
19. Rice
Hundreds of tons of "poisonous rice" were found in the markets of Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan, and other places in our country. According to the inspection results of some provinces' "poisonous rice" samples, the content of aflatoxin B1 in the inspected samples was seriously beyond standard.
The alarming toxic rice
An illegal rice processing warehouse
Problem food knocks down 500 people daily
Eating food severely contaminated with aflatoxin can cause fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, loss of appetite. Severe cases may develop symptoms of toxic liver disease within 2-3 weeks, such as liver and spleen enlargement, liver pain, jaundice of skin and mucosa, ascites, edema of the lower limbs, and abnormal liver function. It can also lead to heart enlargement, pulmonary edema, even convulsions and coma.
Jingchu Online Message Chu Tian Metropolis Daily (Reported by Fang Lin, Communicated by Xiao Zhen) More than 300 tons of "Crystal Rice" and "Pearl Rice" from Lianyungang turned into "sticky rice balls" in over a month! Yesterday, this batch of "problematic rice" was detected by Wuhan quality supervision departments to contain carcinogenic aflatoxin.
The raw rice had already rotted and smelled foul, filled with pupa silk.
Entire batches of toxic rice might end up in our kitchens on any given day.
20. Sausages
Changhong Food Grand Market is a well-known side food wholesale market in Nanjing. With the approach of the Spring Festival, in front of the prominently located sausage wholesale stalls, various brightly colored sausages are displayed. Large quantities of sausages are continuously being loaded and unloaded, and business is booming. However, the reporter noticed a strange phenomenon: the prices of these sausages vary greatly, and some are even much cheaper than pork.
To understand the quality differences among these sausages, following the addresses provided by the stall owners, the reporter headed straight to Taixing City, Jiangsu Province. At a processing point near the road in Rugao County, Nantong City, adjacent to Taixing City, the workers were very cautious about our sudden appearance.
Reporter: How many pounds of sausages can you roast in a day?
Worker: I don't know. You'll have to wait for the boss to come and talk.
The reporter then went to a nearby cold storage facility. From afar, workers could be seen carrying chunks of meat out of the cold storage. Inside the workshop, workers were shoveling meat paste from the floor into iron buckets with shovels. In the yard, some sausages were already drying. In another workshop, the floor was full of pig heads and chunks of meat.
These chunks of meat are neck meat, the meat behind the pig tongue. The boss told the reporter that many processing points in this area use neck meat to make sausages. Nearby, in Yezhu Village, Taixing City, almost every household uses neck meat to make sausages.
Following the boss's guidance, the reporter arrived at Yezhu Village, more than thirty miles away. Locals told us that Yezhu Village is famous for making sausages. The reporter casually entered a processing point. The boss took out several types of sausages, asking the reporter to distinguish between good and bad ones.
Boss: You can't tell which is good and which is bad.
Reporter: How do you distinguish between good and bad sausages? Different ingredients?
Boss: Yes, different ingredients. Lymph nodes are also included in the neck meat.
Sodium nitrite is mainly used as a color fixative and preservative in food processing. Its maximum dosage is 0.15 grams per kilogram, but the boss added 100 grams of sodium nitrite to 500 pounds of meat, exceeding the maximum dose by more than twice.
Boss: This stuff is highly toxic. No matter how healthy your body is, eating even a little bit can kill you.
Then the boss took out a red bottle from the cabinet and poured some red powder into the bucket.
Reporter: What is this?
Boss: Food red dye for coloring.
The boss carried the bucket to the operating room, fetched a bucket of water, and subsequently poured the whole bucket of food red solution onto the meat filling in the pool. Workers quickly began stirring.
Before hanging the stuffed sausages on the racks to dry, they needed to be immersed in a big basin at the entrance. Workers said this special treatment was to prevent flies