About one tenth of China's farmland is polluted with heavy metals, with whole villages being poisoned. All too frequently, local governments have reacted by ignoring the problems and even denying treatment (HRW report).
posted by jeffburdges on Nov 9, 2011 - 37 comments

Testing by Food Safety News has shown that more than 75% of the honey being sold in the United States does not qualify to be labeled for sale as "honey". [more inside]
posted by tocts on Nov 7, 2011 - 156 comments

Fast food in South India is fast | in Thailand iced tea is really cool | in Sri Lanka tea is cooled with dramatic effect | in Delhi the bread is made fast too | in Calcutta it puffs up magically | tea serenely | singly | or two at a time | in China tea is served with a long spout, acrobatically. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Jul 5, 2011 - 39 comments

British food-writer and Sichuan cuisine expert Fuchsia Dunlop introduces cheese to a group of chefs from Shaoxing, China,"the Chinese headquarters of 'stinking and fermented' delicacies" for the first time. How does the Stilton fare against stinky tofu?
posted by peripathetic on May 25, 2011 - 77 comments

Why can't China guarantee safe milk for its babies? "From the outset, in what seemed like some bizarre parallel universe, rather than alert Chinese parents as soon as possible to potentially life-saving information about the melamine contamination, baby formula producer Sanlu and various levels of government tried to shut down information. (...) Chinese journalists say the government's Central Propaganda Department, however, issued orders that Chinese media not send their own reporters to further investigate the story." [more inside]
posted by iviken on Sep 21, 2008 - 44 comments

The World's Most Unbelievable Invention Pursuing the demand for fresh eggs, Chinese manufacturers have come across the most amazing solution: man-made chicken eggs. More here.
posted by parmanparman on May 4, 2007 - 51 comments

International Dim Sum Directory from Journeywoman, the travel website, created by their readershop. My favourite Dim Sum are those steamed meatballs, although it's interesting to note that many popular dishes such as Crispy Aromatic Duck are in fact British inventions (mixing Peking duck with Sichuan style duck).
posted by feelinglistless on Jan 15, 2007 - 22 comments

Is It Politically Incorrect To Decry The Eating And Killing Of Civet Cats? Is Western consciousness of hypocrisy (due to the enormous number of animals we kill for food) preventing us from criticizing countries, like China, where practically all animals are eaten? Is sentimentality and the protection of animals we regard as cute better than having no qualms at all? I'm sure that the ratio of animals killed-per-capita is higher in the West than in China. Is there any moral difference? Probably not. Why, then, is it so shocking?
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 19, 2004 - 24 comments

Who Was General Tso And Why Are We Eating His Chicken? Unlike Chicken Marengo, a dish created to celebrate Napoleon's victory, or Beef Wellington, named, it seems for the Duke's boots, General Tso's Chicken has a humbler origin as a traditional Hunan dish revived in a New York Chinese restaurant in the 1970s, when Szechuan was the latest craze. But this article will teach you a bit about the General Sherman of Ch'ing-period China.
posted by briank on Sep 8, 2003 - 23 comments

"If a Chinese cannot understand why Swiss people get so upset that they are eating St. Bernards, I would ask that same question: If Swiss people eat China's panda, how would Chinese feel?"

I expect they'd ask for a bite of the penis.
posted by dfowler on Mar 28, 2001 - 16 comments