If you’re a frequent visitor to China, you might not have anything to worry about. You might know where to go and what to eat, as well as where you probably shouldn’t be hanging around.
For those going for a one time visit or just passing through you might not be privy to that knowledge, and stories like this just go to show that you could suffer for it.
The Ministry of Public Security recently arrested 63 different individuals involved in black market trading for hunting rat, foxes and mink, all to sell under the guise of pork and beef. While this act is completely disgusting, it makes you rethink just how bad GMO foods can be in comparison.
To make matters even worse, the rodents they hunted weren't even inspected for diseases and impurities! Hopefully nothing more serious comes of this incident and it doesn't become more commonplace than it already is. I couldn't imagine going to take a bite into a burger only to realize I'm eating the rat that lived under the counter for the last year.
To get away with it, the raw meats were completely covered in red pigment, gelatin and nitrates to make the coloration and consistency somewhat closer to the meats they were mimicking. They sold altogether around $1.6 million dollars of this fake meat around the Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces before being discovered.
Thus far, out of over 1,700 factories and shops questioned since January more than 900 people have been arrested for selling fake or toxic meats, really lowering my faith in humanity. With a crackdown this heavy by the Ministry however, I doubt this will be this big of a problem for much longer thankfully.
