China Busts Cardboard Bun Shop
Chemical-Soaked Paper Used As Filler In Steamed Snacks In Beijing
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Play CBS Video Video China's Cardboard Buns CBS News RAW: Chinese police have shutdown an operation in Beijing that was making and selling steamed buns stuffed with lots of chemical-soaked cardboard, and very little pork.
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A screen grab taken from Chinese state television shows an undercover reporter's hand holding a steamed bun that his investigation revealed to be stuffed with cardboard soaked in chemicals. Police have shut down the bun maker's shop. (CBS/APTV)
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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.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 49 CommentsCostco 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.
didn't they just execute their national food czar or somethin?
say yer blessin's folks!!!
Lord have mercy on me a sinner...
Wow! impressive.
PS: China, just don't send any more of it to the US, ok?
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.)
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!!
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