'Peasants' blamed in newest Chinese food fraud

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

According to the online newspaper ChinaDaily, the Yuzhong Food Additive Company in Jiagsu province is adding pulverized lime to the bleaching agent it produces and is selling the adulterated product to flour millers.

ChinaDaily cites Chen Junshi, a leading researcher with the national food safety and risk assessment committee, as saying that the unregulated use of additives in Chinese food production in China is unavoidable in the current developmental stage of Chinese society.

"Only when the number of peasant households in the country is reduced, say from the current 200 million to two million, could we possibly solve the food-safety problem at the source," he says.

The Yuzhong company has been selling its bleaching agent at a price 10 per cent less than the industry average. The lime replaces corn flour in the bleaching agent, bringing down the cost considerably.

Lime is heavier than corn starch and the bleaching agent is sold by weight.
Chen Junshi said the sale is definitely illegal. Pulverized lime has been linked to health problems. BF