Toxic toothpaste with antifreeze in it, canned food full of bacteria, lethal pet food with melamine, and now this.

Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and made tasty with pork flavouring, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighbourhood, state television said.

What the hell is going on over there? And how does this bode for the upcoming Olympics?

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. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

My theory - and it's just a theory - is that it's been this way for a long, long time, and only now, due to the Olympic brouhaha, are we finally hearing about life in that secretive country.

From the AP:

Confidence in the safety of Chinese exports has severely waned internationally, as the list of products found tainted with dangerous levels of toxins and chemicals grows longer by the day.

China has taken significant steps to try to clean up its dubious product safety record in recent days, including executing the former head of its drug regulation agency for taking bribes and banning the use of a chemical found in antifreeze in the production of toothpaste.

This week, officials vowed the Beijing Summer Games - a source of tremendous national pride - will be part of the crackdown on unsafe food.

The new food quality monitoring system announced Thursday will begin Aug. 8, the start of a series of 11 trials for Olympic organizers to assess their transportation systems, technology and logistics.

Sounds like they've got a big job ahead of them.

Labels: China, Food, Olympics