Controversy over food hygiene has erupted again in China.

According to Chinese media such as Shin Kyungbo and Jimu News, on the 17th, a video of making pickled vegetables in Woyang County, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, was uploaded on Chinese social media.

This is a video of a pit on the floor being covered with parsley, vegetables such as cabbages and leaf mustards, and sprinkled with salt.

A mound of dirt is piled up next to the pit.

It is presumed to have piled up soil from digging a pit.

The problem is that the residents in the video did not wear separate work shoes, but wore everyday shoes such as sneakers and stepped on vegetables.

I didn't even put a plastic cover on my shoes.

Chinese media reported that residents were stepping on vegetables again with their shoes on the soil.

He added that as the vegetables were pickled on a large scale, there is a possibility that they are sold on the market rather than for residents' own consumption.

Citing restaurant owners in Woyang County, Shinbo reported that "the residents of the surrounding villages bring pickled vegetables to the market to sell."



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"It's food that people eat, but with shoes on the mud..."

Local authorities have also confirmed the video to be authentic.

The Woyang County Market Supervision Bureau said, "It was found that it occurred in a village in Woyang County," and said, "We are investigating the related contents."

If it is confirmed that this pickled vegetable has been distributed on the market, he said he would handle it legally.



The video caused a lot of controversy among Chinese netizens.

Hashtags such as #pickled vegetables reappeared in a dirt pit# and #put on shoes and step on pickled vegetable pits# appeared on social media, and their views exceeded 40 million as of the morning of the 20th.

Comments are mainly criticizing, "It's food for people to eat, but what if you step on vegetables with shoes on soil?"

You can also see comments such as "I'm worried about the sanitary conditions of pickled vegetables in a dirt pit" and "I would never step on them like this if they were going to eat it."

Furthermore, there are articles criticizing the authorities' response, and some netizens wrote, "What is the Market Supervision Bureau doing?", "Why can't it be prevented in advance?", and "Eating these vegetables is more harmful than Corona 19."

The purpose is not to focus only on high-intensity quarantine policies, but to pay attention to the food of the common people.



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Previously, the controversy over 'barefoot and naked pickling'...

Possibility of exporting to Korea is low

Previously, in March, the scene of manufacturing pickled vegetables in an unsanitary environment was exposed.

China's state-run CCTV reported on Consumer's Day, but at the time, stepping on vegetables with bare feet was a problem.

Like this time, a pit was dug, plastic was laid, vegetables were filled, and the scene was pickled with salt.

Workers stepped into the pit barefoot and stepped on the vegetables, while they smoked cigarettes while working, and even threw cigarette butts into the vegetables.

A scene where pickled vegetables spilled from the bag was left on the floor of the processing plant was also captured.

It happened in Hunan Province.

It has been confirmed that this pickled vegetable has been supplied to China's best-selling cup noodle company.



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It is unlikely that these pickled vegetables will be exported to Korea.

Korea's import of Chinese kimchi is on the rise.

The main reason is that the price of ingredients such as cabbage has risen and the price of domestic kimchi has risen.

Last month, Korea's kimchi imports surged 50.9% from the same period last year to $17.01 million (22.8 billion won), the highest ever.

The total amount of kimchi imports this year is also expected to hit an all-time high.

However, the kimchi imported into Korea is mainly produced in Shandong Province.

At the time of the Hunan Province's 'pickled barefoot' controversy in March, China's General Administration of Customs (Customs) said, "The pickled vegetables in question have not been exported to Korea."

It seems highly likely that this Anhui pickled vegetable was also used as an ingredient for Ssongchai, one of the Chinese pickled foods, rather than kimchi.



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Prior to this, in March of last year, a scene of a shirtless man entering a pit and pickling cabbage was revealed, shocking imported kimchi consumers.

A situation where food hygiene problems in China are brought to light if it is forgotten.

Even in China, the voice of 'how long do we have to worry about food hygiene' is getting louder.