Chinese factory bleaches chicken feet with hydrogen peroxide

The incident was mentioned in the Consumer Rights Day program (March 15) conducted by China Central Television (CCTV). According to SCMP On March 22, a group of investigative reporters penetrated the chicken leg “capitals” in Sichuan province and Chongqing city. Here, they work at the factory of Minh Duong Food Company in Chengdu city without needing any health examination or mandatory sterilization process.

According to an independent investigation report, the scene inside the factory was filled with a foul smell, the floor was stagnant with wastewater and the production equipment was covered in dirty grease. Raw chicken feet are piled right on the wet, dirty ground, placed next to cleaning tools. Even when the chicken feet are trampled underfoot, workers still pick them up and put them back in the basket without washing them.

Before being processed, chicken feet are soaked in hydrogen peroxide solution to bleach them. This type of chemical is usually only used for industrial disinfection. China prohibits the use of hydrogen peroxide in food, especially chicken feet, because it destroys nutrients such as protein, and causes damage to the oral mucosa, impaired liver and kidney function, and even threatens life if consumed long-term. Workers at the factory admitted that they had never dared to eat their own products and advised reporters not to try either.

The investigation also showed that this situation did not only occur at one facility. At Tangqiao Food Company (Chongqing), reporters also discovered a series of green drums containing chemicals with labels clearly stating hydrogen peroxide concentration up to 35%. After the incident was exposed, the Sichuan Provincial Market Supervision Bureau investigated Minh Duong Company, and at the same time launched a large-scale food safety inspection.

The incident in Sichuan took place immediately after Anhui provincial authorities announced an investigation into violations at Nam Giang Food Company on March 15. According to Jiangsu Television Station, this facility burned burned rice next to piles of dirty shoe liners and gloves. Elderberry products were widely sold on the market long before they were discovered.

The above incidents continue the list of food scandals in China. In 2024, a restaurant in Shanghai was fined 50,000 yuan (more than 190 million VND) for using nitrite to enhance the flavor of dishes. That same year, parents of Changfeng High School (Kunming) protested when rotten meat was discovered in the school kitchen, leading to the principal being dismissed, many education officials being suspended, and the kitchen operator being fined 5.8 million yuan. In 2023, a college in Nanchang caused a “storm” of public opinion when it mixed a rat’s head into its meal but claimed it was a duck’s neck. The operator was fined 7 million yuan.

According to Professor Liu Junhai from Renmin University of China, the recurring situation of food insecurity is that production units find that the profit from violating the law is much greater than the price they have to pay if discovered. Mr. Liu said that authorities need to apply a “zero tolerance” policy, increasing both civil compensation and criminal penalties so that violators must pay a heavy price.

On online forums, public opinion also expressed skepticism about the role of market surveillance agencies, saying that many problems only surface when there is media intervention, and when the wave of public opinion passes, the situation reoccurs because sanctions are not enough of a deterrent.