"Terrible" Digging Deep with a Rusty Excavator... Controversy Over Chinese 'Jeolim Baechu' Video

Controversy Over China's 'Pit Burial' Cabbage Pickling Method
Criticized for Hygiene Locally
Banned Since 2019 for Environmental Reasons

A scene of pit burial-style cabbage pickling in the northeastern region of China. / Photo by Internet Community Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] A video showing large-scale pickling of napa cabbage using an excavator in China has sparked a food hygiene controversy.

On the 7th, a video titled "How to pickle napa cabbage in China" was posted on an online community. In the released footage, a shirtless man is seen pushing napa cabbages into an old excavator inside a large tank covered with plastic sheeting.

The brine filling the tank in the video appears dark and murky, indicating poor hygiene conditions, and the excavator, presumed to be used for mixing the cabbages, also looks rusty. The netizen who posted the video claimed, "Of course, this napa cabbage is also exported to Korea."

Viewers of the video criticized the food hygiene conditions, commenting, "It's horrifying. Won't we die from eating this?", "It looks dirty," and "I will never eat napa cabbage imported from China."

The video had also been posted on the Chinese social networking service Weibo in June last year. Titled "Pickling napa cabbage with an excavator. The investment is huge, so ordinary people can't handle it," it showed the actual process of moving napa cabbage with an excavator and pickling it in brine.

The Chinese netizen who posted the video explained, "I am an excavator operator," and added, "I pickle the napa cabbage, so the napa cabbage you eat is pickled by me."

In June of last year, a method of pickling napa cabbage using a landfill technique was posted on the Chinese social networking service (SNS) Weibo. This method involves using an excavator to pickle the cabbage in saltwater and is currently reported to be a banned pickling method in China. / Photo by Internet Community Capture

The method of filling a large pit with brine and pickling napa cabbage inside it has been repeatedly criticized for hygiene issues even within China.

Chinese local media such as 'Bando Shinbo' reported in 2014 that tens of tons of napa cabbage were found fermenting in pits in the suburbs of Northeast China.

According to the report, the brine pits had no covers, allowing rainwater and soil to flow directly onto the napa cabbage. Chinese local media condemned this pickling method as "garbage dump pickled napa cabbage."

However, the pit burial method of pickling napa cabbage is currently illegal in China. Since June 2019, Chinese authorities have banned this pickling method in the Northeast region, citing that "excessive amounts of sodium nitrite (nitrites) and preservatives seriously threaten public health."

The authorities further stated, "(The burial pickling method) causes large amounts of brine to seep into the ground, polluting the environment and destroying farmland," and urged consumers to "purchase from companies with business licenses and food business permits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.