Smoking while salting cabbage and tossing cigarette butts... China faces pickled food hygiene controversy again

Unsanitary manufacturing factory of Ssanchai.
Photo by China CCTV capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Last year, a video leaked from China showing people pickling cabbage bare-chested sparked the 'Naked Cabbage' controversy. Now, a consumer complaint program has exposed scenes of making 'Suan Cai' while holding cigarette butts in the mouth in unsanitary conditions.

On the 15th, China's state-run CCTV aired a consumer complaint program "3·15 Wan Hui (Evening Gala)" to mark Consumer Day, revealing the unsanitary production process at a Suan Cai manufacturing factory in Hunan Province. Suan Cai is a type of Chinese pickled food made by salting and fermenting mustard greens or cabbage with seasonings and spices.

The exposed footage showed workers making Suan Cai barefoot, stepping into the pickling vats, discarding lit cigarette butts, and other unhygienic behaviors. Before packaging, Suan Cai was left in plastic bags or sacks, and some were piled directly on dirty floors.

CCTV also revealed three other Suan Cai manufacturers with similar unsanitary production environments.

These companies were found to supply Suan Cai to major food companies and food distribution firms nationwide in Shanghai, Hubei, Sichuan, including the well-known Chinese food brand Kangshifu (Kang Shi Fu, 康師傅).

A company representative said, "There is a standardized pickling workshop where Suan Cai produced contains almost no impurities, but those are all for export. Suan Cai produced in places with poor manufacturing environments may contain impurities, but even if caught, the fine is only 1000 to 2000 yuan (about 190,000 to 380,000 KRW)."

After the broadcast, Kangshifu issued a statement saying, "We have terminated all cooperation with the problematic companies and sealed all products containing the problematic Suan Cai. We are actively cooperating with food safety authorities' investigations. We deeply apologize for betraying consumer trust due to this incident."

Previously, in March last year, controversy arose over a video showing pickled cabbage being made in unsanitary conditions in China. The Food and Drug Administration explained that it confirmed the products were not for export.

The video at that time shocked imported kimchi consumers by showing scenes of cabbages being transported by excavators and a shirtless man entering a pit to pickle the cabbage.

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