Scandal in China: edible oil transported in contaminated fuel-oil trucks
Scandalous news from China. A bizarre story has come to light there: edible oil was transported in the same tanks that had previously contained fuel. Surely that’s not so bad if they were cleaned really thoroughly in between, I hear you thinking? Well, that job was simply skipped. And so litres and litres of contaminated oil ended up on store shelves.
The Chinese companies Sinograin and Hopefull Grain & Oil Group are involved. A truck driver—who wished to remain anonymous—brought the scandal to light. An investigation revealed that two contaminated trucks had been used to transport fuel oil. As a result, 68 tonnes of edible oil, such as cooking oil and soybean oil, became contaminated. More than 21 tonnes were distributed in Mongolia for consumption, while around 11 tonnes ended up in the animal-feed industry. Fortunately, at least half of the contaminated oil was intercepted in time.
Dangerous stuff
That it is, to put it mildly, unhealthy for humans to ingest contaminated oil seems obvious to me. If you consume such dirty oil over a prolonged period, your organs—especially your liver and kidneys—can even become damaged. You can imagine, then, that the outrage in China was considerable. People’s health and safety were put at risk, and the word ‘poisoning’ is even being used there.
Whose fault is this? The owners and drivers of the trucks in question are being singled out in particular. It turns out that a report on cleaning the tanks had been falsified, and that the driver used a cleaning facility that did not meet certain standards. Strict penalties have been imposed, at any rate. Two drivers are facing legal proceedings, and substantial fines have been handed out. Just consider that in the past, during another Chinese food-safety scandal in which a toxic substance ended up in powdered milk and six babies died, even the death penalty was imposed. These penalties seem rather lenient by comparison…
Crispy chili oil
When we hear the words ‘China’ and ‘oil’, we naturally think of only one thing: crispy chili oil. Has our all-time favorite oil been affected? Fortunately, it doesn’t appear so. The companies involved have nothing to do with, for example, the Lao Gan Ma (Old Mother) brand, the famous and popular Chinese crispy chili oil brand we see on Dutch store shelves. So we can continue our addiction without a worry.
Also read:
- Vanilla ice cream with crispy chili oil: is that a good idea?
- Must-have: crispy chili oil in your Christmas tree
- The best-kept secret of Chinese cuisine: velveting
Sources: CNN and chinasquare.be
