Food Fraud Scandal In China
by Felix Lim
@ 10 Jan 2014
Donkey meat, a popular delicacy in some parts of China, is the centre of yet another food fraud scandal to rock the country in recent times. The supermarket chain Wal-Mart was forced to recall its “Five Spice” donkey meat being sold at some of their outlets in China after tests revealed that it had been adulterated with the meat of other animals, including fox. This is not the first time that scandals involving suppliers passing off cheaper animal meats as more expensive meats has hit China, in fact, last May, authorities arrested almost 1000 people with regards to “meat-related” offences, some of whom had tried to pass off fox, mink and rat meat as lamb. The food fraud problem is not solely confined to China, however, with the now infamous horse meat scandal rocking European markets, early last year. Horse DNA was found in some hamburgers sold in Britain and Ireland, which led to a barrage of tests that discovered the problem to be much more widespread than previously thought. Hopefully, with the wide spread public outcry following these scandals, we will see tougher regulations put in place to ensure the quality of the food and meat we buy.