3·15 Gala | Exposing the unscrupulous "bleached chicken feet"! The production workshop is disgusting. Toxic hydrogen peroxide is used arbitrarily.

In terms of chicken feet sold in the market, most are clean-looking and white in color, with plump, full-bodied meat that makes you feel hungry just by looking at it. But there is one detail that has drawn the reporters’ high attention: the price of chicken feet products. A 500-gram portion of chicken feet is often sold for as low as 15 yuan. Behind the internet-famous chicken feet, is it really as clean and放心 as these chicken feet look on the outside?

With questions in mind, reporters from the 315 gala investigation carried out an inquiry in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, where chicken feet sales are booming. Without having obtained a health certificate, without undergoing any health examination, and without any sanitation disinfection, the reporter was able to easily enter the Chengdu Mingyang Food production workshop. This is precisely the place where the pre-processing of chicken feet products for Shu Fuxiang Food Co., Ltd. takes place.

At the scene, the reporter saw that in the food processing workshop, the soaking area, trimming area, and selecting area were permeated with foul odors. The pungent fishy stench made people nauseated. The production environment was dirty and chaotic: the ground had long been covered with murky wastewater; all kinds of plastic crates were stacked in a disorderly, careless way; and the surfaces of production machinery were heavily stained, with oil spread everywhere. In this workshop, a large quantity of chicken feet were directly piled on the damp, filthy floor. Cleaning tools such as brooms and shovels were carelessly pressed down on top of the chicken feet. Even if the chicken feet were stepped on by personnel, the workers would simply pick them up and place them back into the processing crates to continue using them—completely ignoring food hygiene and safety.

As the investigation deepened, a key piece of information was uncovered: even though the environment was filthy and chaotic, the chicken feet that ultimately came out were all white and enticing, because the factory carried out a crucial “bleaching” process.

A staff member admitted: “They bleach it with hydrogen peroxide.” Hydrogen peroxide, whose scientific name is hydrogen peroxide, is often used as a strong oxidizer and disinfectant for sterilization and disinfection. According to national regulations, during the processing of chicken feet, hydrogen peroxide cannot be used. This chemical substance first damages nutritional components in food such as proteins. If consumers eat foods soaked in it over a long period of time, it can cause health hazards such as damage to the oral mucosa and impairment of liver and kidney function. If consumed in excess of the dosage, it can even put life at risk.

Posing as someone placing an order, the reporter entered the plant workshop of Shu Fuxiang Food Co., Ltd. In the frying area, a large number of unmarked containers immediately came into view. More than ten blue plastic barrels were stacked on a cart, with about 50 jin of liquid in each barrel. The barrel sides only had the words “Jinshan,” with no product name, manufacturer information, or production labeling.

A staff member from Shu Fuxiang Food Co., Ltd. said: “We added something. I’m telling you, only after adding something will it look that white.” The workers told the reporter that they themselves never eat chicken feet soaked with hydrogen peroxide, and they also advised the reporter not to eat them, because the poison directly used in the chicken feet is obvious to the workers.

The reporter found that not only this one food enterprise had the practice of soaking chicken feet with hydrogen peroxide. In Chongqing, at Zengqiao Food Co., Ltd., the reporter similarly found large quantities of recycled blue packaging barrels. The labels on the barrel sides clearly indicated hydrogen peroxide—commonly known as hydrogen peroxide—with a high concentration of 35%. The manufacturer was Jinshan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. from Meishan City. The reporter applied for and was hired as an ordinary worker at Chongqing Zengqiao Food Co., Ltd., and under conditions with no health certificate, no health examination, and no disinfection, he was able to successfully enter the company’s production front line. During the investigation, company insiders confirmed in their own words that the chicken feet here were indeed bleached using hydrogen peroxide.

(Editor: Wenjing)

Keywords: