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POW storyBEIJING -- Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.
The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite 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.
State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district.
Baozi are a common snack in China, with an outer skin made from wheat or rice flour and and a filling of sliced pork. Cooked by steaming in immense bamboo baskets, they are similar to but usually much bigger than the dumplings found on dim sum menus familiar to many Americans.
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 the 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 showed up and shut down the operation.
© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ANother story
Sidewalk China Stand Found Selling Steamed Buns Made Primarily From Cardboard
July 12, 2007 9:00 p.m. EST
Patricia Shehan - AHN News Writer
Beijing, China (AHN) - A common Chinese lunch or breakfast snack known a baozi, or Chinese steamed buns, was being made and sold illegally with cardboard boxes being substituted as the main ingredient at one vendor, according to authorities in China.
Baozi is normally made from wheat and rice flour and a filling of pork, usually with added sugar, salt, water, oil and eggs.
One Beijing neighborhood "sidewalk stall" selling the steamed buns was caught on tape by an undercover Chinese TV news crew. This food stand, likely one of many illegally run operations, was found using chopped cardboard, being softened by an industrial chemical, as the main ingredient.
The report aired on late night TV in China emphasized the food safety problems in the country in spite of the improvement efforts being made by the government.
Obviously, these operations are in it only for the money, finding any way they can to cut corners by using ingredients or substitutes that are inexpensive and almost impossible to be regulated, according to the AP report.
The hidden camera of the undercover TV reporter found a rundown and filthy building where the buns were being steamed. The ground is found to be littered with dirty water puddles, old furniture and cardboard.
The TV news report showed the reporter questioning the bun maker as to what the ingredients were in the recipe for the boazi. The bun maker admitted to the reporter that most people cannot tell the difference and states that "It fools the average person."
"I don't eat them myself," states the bun maker.
Ultimately the police arrive and shut the business down. No reports of whether or not the bun maker was arrested were made.
This discovery from this investigative report in China comes on the heels of numerous problems with foods founds to have illegally substituted items that have been imported into the U.S. from China. One such recent instance even involved a nonfood item, that is, toothpaste, in which an ingredient normally used in antifreeze was substituted.
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