China Busts Cardboard Bun Shop

Chemical-Soaked Paper Used As Filler In Steamed Snacks In Beijing

(AP)  Chopped cardboard, softened in an industrial chemical and made tasty with pork flavoring, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in a Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's perennial problems with food safety despite continuing 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.

China Central Television's undercover investigation report features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns — called baozi — talking about how the product was sold in a neighborhood in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district.

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-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 show up and shut down the operation.

[omega39-2009]

I will have a cardboard bun and a large coffee with ethyl Glycol please.

[pam1sadge]

What people won't do to make a dollar! They are still exporting food products from China. How many people need to die before someone stops this craziness?

[rushlimpdrug]

I have found if the cardboard sticks to the teeth a quick brush with ****** tootpas cleans it right up.
Gotta go feed the dog - he just loves those chineeze dog bikits.

[olebd]

I like mine with the Elmer's glue dipping sauce.

[desertdwellr]

Even some of the dog stuff they export to major US stores is suspicious - next time you see a bag of dried chicken dog treats - check the label - its been treated with radiation - and I'm starting to get the feeling its not a regulated amount. I wouldn't buy a Chinese import food product for my dog. Wonder what those tea leaves are actually made of ???!!!!

[susieq_13]

I can't believe people will go to such lengths to save money. How disgusting! I'm sure there's more operations just like the one the were able to bust.

[gunownerdan]

"Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes."

Didn't Wal-Mart start all this with their "lowest price" addiction?

[jetlizhan]

i'll have a double decker cardboard bun and a glass of delicious water that you've washed your hands in - oh, and give my dogs some tainted treats PLEASE!!!

[mnelsonix]

mmm m m m mmm...Melamine as a protein substitute, ethylene glycol as a sweetener, and cardboard as fake bread...what's next? I've always wondered about those "Pot Stickers." China has the population for it, why not export some Soylent Green.

Gotta love free trade

Time for lunch, cya

[blackbug99]

I guess the dogs are getting harder to catch. Hmmm, I wonder if the Walmart deli carries them. Everything else in the store is chinese.

[cantshutup]

it just gets stupider and stupider each day as we hear what kind of morons they are over there in china...makin their scrap cardboard goodies and all the other toxic c*rap...doesn't bother me one bit 'cuz i stopped buying ALL CHINESE products...if i have to go without so be it...and while i'm at it, the farmers market is the only way to get locally grown fruits and veggies...everything else is from mexico where who only knows what kind of nasty is on that stuff...why the h *ell does wal-mart carry freakin green onions from mexico when they could get it local...what a bunch of f*ucktards!!!

[incog-nito]

U.S. consumers better get ready, because notwithstanding stories like this one, because imports from China are expected to increase substantially in the foreseeable future. Make sure you keep your antacids with you at all times, maybe even a stomach pump.

[leonashepard]

Having to cut cost of production? Maybe he got one of those fluffy white envelopes with a tax increase, a picture of a lizard and an invite to discover.

[sentry88]

Well at least Fluffy po Ping the cat is safe now.

[bogusbones]

Geez those people will eat anything. No wonder they're so skinny.

[oleander8]

So, in this great global economy how does one know where their food comes from? or, even if they know something is American made - how do they know where the ingredients come from?

My toothpaste says "distributed by Proctor and Gamble" -- but nothing about where it's made.

[aerodog]

cantshutup -
thanks for giving me a new adjective for idiots!! love it and will definitely start using it! (that very last word in your post)

[shoujoboy-2009]

Ha oh man thats genius. You never know what you are eating until you are told. I applaud theses guys at least for the sheer creativity. But seriously... gross.

[jsmithcsa]

How can China allow this? If this is a "once-in-a-while", it isn't news, but that doesn't appear to be the case. If it's widespread, the government needs to do something about this.

[feedback3-2009]

Hate to break it to you "cantshutup" but you haven't stopped buying "all" Chinese products. 80% of the items at WalMart are manufactured in China just for starters.

Read some history of the food industry in this country. It's interesting that the same people who complain about government regulation and intrusiveness complain about this.

China is just getting started on the road to capital domination, they'll have their own FDA some day soon with the same overall effectiveness.

In the meatime everybody just eat a hot dog with velveeta and feel the glow of food purity.

[jsilver2th]

Pleeeaaaasssseee
Don't let McDonalds, Walmart, School Lunch, Nursing Home and FEMA food managers see this...
OK??? Although it may actually be an improvement over present selections...

[blue_eyes68]

someone commented that the government needed to do something about this...they did...recently the executed the guy who is the head of what is equivalent to our FDA for taking bribes for looking the other way and approving things where there were no clinical trials/studies to back up claims, etc... not saying I agree with how they chose to handle it, but they did step in and o something because they were embarrassed about all the negative publicity as of late.

[jeyen]

I'm sickened by the racism in the most of your comments. "Geez those people will eat anything. No wonder they're so skinny"? Ridiculous and uninformed. Perhaps the diversity in Chinese cuisine springs from the fact that they have a population more than 4 times larger than the United States with a country slightly smaller.

The health hazards presented in this article are horrific and maybe instead of judging the innocent people who bought the baos trusting they were chemical and cardboard free, maybe we should examine the chemicals that we eat everyday in our "civilized", "Western" society.

So "bogusbones" and "cantshutup", until you realize that we're living in a global economy where it will become impossible to identify a product's company of origin, maybe you should just try and shut up. Even if you supposedly can't.

[mannamaribet]

All China needs to do is keep doing what it's doing and soon it will rule the world.
Most of the world's food comes from there - it won't be hard for them to put whatever chemicals they want to make people susceptible to mind control and just take over.
But then again, the US is in such debt to China for the Iraq war that soon it will just be the United States of China anyway.
Look what we've got to look forward too!

[rushlimpdrug]

jeyen - I vote you officio taste testa of da chinneze cuizine.
Today's ingueedient: cardboard!

[wangbang]

Actually, you fat Americans should be eating cardboard. Maybe you wouldn't be so friggin fat. Jeez, I walk out onto the street and see nothing but gigantic fat *****. 7 out of 10 of you. What the hell is your problem?

[dannyttown]

This is a primitive culture and a terrible government! They mismanage everything they touch! Instead of vaccinating animals for rabies, they LITERALLY club them to death in the streets. Moreover time after time, their consumer products have been deemed unsafe. BAN ALL CHINESE PRODUCTS!! BOOST AMERICA'S ECONOMY! BUY AMERICAN.

[my2centss]

Ever wonder whats in your food? Read the ingredients? Tartrazine or FD&C Yellow 5 is derived from coal tar.

[erasmus6]

"This is a primitive culture and a terrible government." posted by dannyttown

I don't think the word "primitive" really covers it. Try "SICK".

Yes, we do have some bad chemicals in our food but only SICK people would put pig slop, sewage, cardboard in our food.

[erasmus6]

....shove pipes down pigs throats and pour sewer water down them, make babies sick by putting no nutrients in their formula....need I go on?

[bobgee_1999]

The only way to make a dent in China's economy & practices is to stop buying their products and patronizing their companies. Someone pointed out the large amount of Chinese stuff sold at WalMart. For those of you more upscale, that shop, say at Cosco, are you aware that that's an abbreviation for: China Ocean Shipping Company?

[dubby12]

We should not be buying ANY foodstuffs etc. from China! What the H _ _ L is our probelm? Keep on worshipping money and how to make more profit-SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

[erasmus6]

"...Cosco, are you aware that that's an abbreviation for: China Ocean Shipping Company?" posted by bobgee_1999

Are you serious, or just joking?

Anyways we can and should stop buying everything from China but what do we do about all the stuff that says it is made in our countries when actually the ingredients are from China? I have to say that in Canada we do have a lot of stuff made in China but I don't know if it is to the extent that the U.S. has.

With the extent of the problem that is in China, I don't believe that they are going to be able to fix the problem. The only solution is to stop all shipments from China.

If everyone would stop buying things from China that would probably work but the problem is that people are too lazy to do it. There was an article on here not long ago saying that the sales for things from China were actually UP!!

[dredre2k]

Why do we get our food products from other contries? We have enough food here to feed the world! Let the chinese poison their own food supply, not ours.

[erasmus6]

Ahhhh, SOYLENT GREEN! I loved that movie!

[antoniof123]

I laughed my a-- off some of these posts were right on the button. LMAO......

[jsilver2th]

And you thought McDonals switched to recycable boxes because they were going green...

[hypnotoad72]

I agree, why do we need to import so much food? And other products, which seem to be of fairly poor quality when the day is said and done?

Especially if the North American Union becomes a reality, we wouldn't need to rely on poor quality goods nearly as much. (that's what I'm hoping, anyway.)

[conniereh]

Of course we see in the news a couple of days ago that Seattle is increasing trade with China. There goes the government again working against what is obviously the right thing to do. With warnings and everyone getting sick or dying. Get your act together Seattle!!

[jimc52]

Ummmm....if you are planning on going to the Olympics in '08 in Beijing (Peking)...you had better bring your own lunchpail. Yummy yummy...industrial chemicals and cardboard...I wonder what else tourists will be eating next year in China?

PS: China, just don't send any more of it to the US, ok?

[rushlimpdrug]

But what about their toilets . . .
Wow! impressive.

[funkiwiteboy]

anybody know what percentile of our food has direct ties to china?
didn't they just execute their national food czar or somethin?
say yer blessin's folks!!!
Lord have mercy on me a sinner...

[incog-nito]

The ONLY way to really stop buying products from China and elsewhere, is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. And we all know corporate America will never let that happen. So let's just forget about it, keep your antacids around, and make sure you always know the location of the nearest hospital.

[maxium6]

Some of you guys are hilarious. I stopped buying all canned tuna, sardines, oysters, and clams. One of the major name brands has everything shipped from China. I won't spell it out, but the initials are (C of the S). Read those cans folks. Most things say distributed by company, state, and city. I write to the companies and find the source. If you don't recive an answer, don't purchase it.

[blue_eyes68]

a lot of it stems from their lack of respect for life. only allowing families to have one child so parents end up abandoning the girls or aborting them because it is not a boy, etc.... goverment does not see it as wrong...they are only girls. Girls are treated worse than animals and animals are not treated very well there. China's history is filled with a lot of examples of lack of respect for human life. Look up Tz'u Hsi and Ho Chuan-Fists of Righteous Harmony...very SCARY.

[crabbycrabby]

Don't go to chinese restaurants, chinese takeout unless it can be proven that all of the condiments that are made are domestically manufactured.

Costco sells organic frozen vegetables. All made in China. Don't buy it.

Trader Joe's and other "organic" food providers offer food made in China.

I was in Target the other day and there was a toddler gummy fruit snack that was gelatin free and Pareve that was a product of China. I put it down.

[blue_eyes68]

I did not bring up other countries because the article was on China. In any country bad decisions are made to save money, make more money, etc...but again, if there was more a respect for human life then maybe some of these decisions would not be made. Long term consequences would be taken into account or possible harm to someone else thought about. that is all. I brought up that empress and group because I just got finished reading a book about them. You are right...every coutnry has its faults and a lot of them stem from thinking about onself and not others..lack of respect for others and life.

[keithle1]

I can't wait to visit China. NOT. eeeeewwwww.