It’s not the first time we heard if China can fake some goods. However, if the fake products are actually food, we need to take more precautions to know the difference!
Not just as foreigners, as a human being, everyone needs to eat food and of course, it supposed to be the healthy one. Some people believe if they cook their own food, they will be able control what can or cannot go inside their bodies. But, what if, the fresh ingredients that you are going to buy are already contaminated? Here are three daily ingredients that you need to be careful to buy in China!
The first international research of fake rice was happened in Singapore. After comparing several types of imported rice, Singapore found out if rice from China is fake. The center of fake rice is Taiyuan city, Shaanxi province. However, there is no guarantee if such counterfeit only there is one city.
The fake rice was made from potato, sweet potato and plastic. Yep, plastic! China actually able to process all of those ingredient to make it looked like rice. Not just that, China actually add synthetic substantial that can cause cancer.
Since, they just need small amount of money as their capital, China can sell such rice with really cheap price. Which is explain why some suppliers sell it in massive amount in order to get more profit. As a consumer, you need to educate yourself to know the difference!
Apparently, finding the difference is a bit tricky. It’s hard to compare real rice and fake rice if you just touch or see it. The only way to track the fake rice is by cooking it. After you cook the rice, the fake rice will have a different form compared to real rice. It will be more sticky, then looked and smell like a plastic that being heated.
Surprise? Not really…. It’s not a new news for the fake eggs, you can find the news of it from 2009. Actually, one can easily find a shop that will teach you how to do make a fake egg in China. As long as you check eggs that you buy beforehand, you can avoid such bad experience for consuming that thing in the picture.
How the fakes were made: prepare a mould, then mix the right amounts of resin, starch, coagulant and pigments to make egg white. Sodium alginate, extracted from brown algae, gives the egg white the wanted viscosity. Then add the fake egg yolk, a different mix of resin and pigments. Once the proper shape is achieved, an amalgamate of paraffin wax, gypsum powder and calcium carbonate makes for a credible shell.
Fake egg is full of chemicals, the main ingredient calcium alginate, at most is a gel. Alum, gelatin etc are only as additives, auxiliary agents. There are national standards on the use of additives; the amount of them is clearly defined. In the artificial eggs they have become the major components; they are not beneficial to the human body. Artificial egg has little or no nutrition value compare with the real egg.
These are the things that you need to notice when you’re buying egg. Fake egg’s shell is a little shinier than the real egg, but it is not very noticeable. When touch the fake egg by hand, it feels a little rougher than the real egg. Shake the fake egg will make some noises, because water overflows from the solid agent. Real egg smells a little like raw meat. Tap the egg lightly, Real egg makes a more crisp sound than the fake egg. Shortly after opening the fake egg, egg yolk and egg white will melt together. This is because the egg yolk and egg white are made of the same raw materials. When frying a fake egg, the yolk will spread without being touched.
As you live in China, you realize there is one food that is perfect for your breakfast since it’s tasty and cheap! What type of harm that can happened
anyway from a bread with meat inside it. Well, in 2007, there was investigation in China that found out if some seller made those bread with fake meat.
How could? Well, the meat inside is not a meat, but a carton that they process with MSG. Good luck, trying to chew it!
Buying pork meat also tricky. In one way, it’s not fake… The pork meat ‘just’ spoiled and sellers ‘just’ trying to fix that problem. So, in 2011, some seller will mix the meat with phosphorescent bacteria. One thing that you can notice, the meat will glow in dark with blue color. However, if you consume such meat, you might moved those bacterias to your body. If your belly can glow in the dark, it’s either you’re an avatar or you already consume the meat.
Some people like meat more than pork. But hey, this is China! They can fix that demand’s problem too! In some market, you can find some meat, that you think made by our dear cow friends, but actually it’s a pork. China able to change pork to cow meat with chemical like paraffin and salt. You will only know the difference if you eat both regularly so you might be able to compare the taste.
Now, you are thinking to move to lamb. Worry even more! In China, if you buy lamb meat on the street, you actually buying different types of meat! Rat and fox are the most usual counterfeit meat and sadly, those meat are usually contained some sickness and infection.
In the end of this post, we hope you will be able to put extra careful when you do your groceries shopping! Don’t buy some food just simply because it’s cheap, make a habit to check what you want to buy! Stay safe! Stay healthy!
Sincerely,
Dalian Laowai