news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070712/ap_on_re_as/china_cardboard_buns
AP Beijing steamed buns include cardboard Thu Jul 12, 12:00 PM ET BEIJING - Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.
The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation. Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district. Baozi are a common snack in China, with an outer skin made from wheat or rice flour and and a filling of sliced pork. Cooked by steaming in immense bamboo baskets, they are similar to but usually much bigger than the dumplings found on dim sum menus familiar to many Americans. The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork. The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground. The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made. Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The police eventually showed up and shut down the operation.
Customers buy steamed buns, called baozi, at a sidewalk stall in Beijing Thursday July 12, 2007. An undercover investigation by a Chinese TV crew found that chopped cardboard, softened in an industrial chemical and made tasty with pork flavoring, is a main ingredient in batches of baozi sold in a Beijing neighborhood.
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