China’s ‘injection needle’ controversy follows urine beer and tooth extraction
As food hygiene controversies continue in China, such as urine and beer and lamb teeth being deboned, the issue of hygiene has once again come to the fore, this time with injection needles found in pork.
According to local Chinese media on the 25th, a thick iron core about 1.5 cm long was found in a student cafeteria meal tray at Jiao Tong University, a prestigious university in Shanghai, China.
When controversy arose, the school explained that it had sought advice from experts and that “the needles are for swine vaccines, not for human or experimental purposes.” He added that the needle appeared to have broken inside the newborn piglet’s body as it struggled when receiving the injection.
The school, which was only focused on explaining the ‘identity’ of the needle without any further apology, belatedly posted an apology on the same day. While the company announced that it would use this incident as an opportunity to focus on traceability and quality control of food raw materials, it was reported that the catering company in question had closed down.
An expert who worked in the pork distribution business summarized the possibility of needles being found in pork into three major categories. He explained that it broke when injecting antibiotics or vaccines, etc. in pig farms, or when water was injected into pork to increase capacity, and that it was put in maliciously by humans.
Previously, last September, controversy arose after a worker was filmed urinating in the raw material (malt) storage area at Tsingtao Beer’s third factory in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. It is known that the company suffered damage from the evaporation of 6.7 billion yuan (about 1.2 trillion won) in market capitalization due to the controversy.
Also, on the 26th, a video of a butcher in Anhui Province, eastern China, cutting lamb with his mouth spread through social networking services (SNS), causing controversy. In the video, the man removed the flesh and bones from both ribs by biting them with his mouth instead of using a tool.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.