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Disgusting food news from China just won’t stop. A video from Radio Free Asia that has surfaced on line details the illegal production and sale of “gutter oil,” which is made from — prepare yourself — garbage.
China’s streets are lined with food stalls and small restaurants, some of which would buy cheap, black market oil made from processing garbage that contains oil or animal parts. The oil is then sold at below-market rates to street vendors that use it to cook food that may taste delicious but could make you extremely sick, according to the Washington Post.
The practice is not new, and while the government has banned gutter oil, it has not been able to eradicate the practice, the Atlantic reported today. Last year, there was a report on oil being made from slaughter house scraps.
The video below produced by Radio Free Asia, shows in excruciating detail how a couple of gutter oil vendors go about their work. It starts with the couple scooping sewage out of the ground, and it ends with unwitting Chinese consumers chowing down on the end product.
Chinese experts estimate about a tenth of China’s cooking oil is gutter oil, according to the documentary.
In April, Chinese authorities uncovered a gutter oil production ring that spanned 13 cities and over 100 people, who somehow acquired rotten animal parts and boiled down the fat into oil. The sting, which came after a five-month investigation, yielded 3,200 tons of the stuff; authorities estimated the black-market producers had already sold a stunning $1.6 million worth of their product. Wow.
Despite all these, food in China is delicious, and gutter oil typically is used majorly in street food stalls or cheap, hole-in-the-wall dives. Many of China’s food restaurants still make use of good, healthy oil, and ensure the highest level of hygiene in food preparation.
Watch the short documentary below:
Download video HERE
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