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Poppy Opiate Used at Foshan Restaurant to Make Food “Tastier”

Posted: 04/15/2014 7:30 am

If you have found yourself addicted to a specific stewed duck or goose dish at a restaurant in Shishan in Foshan, well, it might actually be addiction.

A restaurant located in Foshan’s Nanhai district was found to have been adding an illegal poppy opiate to their stewed meat dishes since December 2011 in order to make them “tastier”, Yangcheng Evening News reported on April 13.

The restaurant’s unscrupulous act was exposed in late February this year when 10 men from a KTV club were tested positive for morphine in a police check. The initial suspicion was drugs, but one person surnamed Cao insisted he and his friends didn’t use drugs and suspected the dishes they had earlier that evening.

Taking the hint, the police raided the restaurant in question the following day. A thorough check of the kitchen led to the discovery of a brown-colored bottle containing opium, morphine, poppy pods and other illegal additives. According to the report, the “spice” was regularly given to the chef by the restaurant owner. Each day, the special spice was used around 10 times, mainly in stewed duck and goose. Within half a month, a bottle of approximately 100 grams could be consumed, the report said.

On April 11, the restaurant owner and the chef were arrested for using the illegal additives and endangering customers’ health.

Poppy seeds are not uncommon in Guangdong or throughout parts of China. It was traditionally used in dishes until recently banned. In Chongqing, it has been routinely used in hotpot dishes. Some mala tang (麻辣烫) and marinated foods also use poppy seedpods for extra flavors.

Home page image: hsw.cn

Haohao

Guy in Guangdong grows opium poppies in the open

Posted: 04/5/2013 2:36 pm

People passing through Meihua County in Lechan, Shaoguan City recently noticed almost 2,000 gorgeous purple flowers in full bloom in a remote vegetable plot.  While people were impressed by the flowers, nobody realized what they were until the police happened to stop by.

Image credit: The Guardian

It turns out the flowers were opium poppies, according to media reports. Police moved in and eradicated the poppies, and now the hunt is on for whoever planted them.

Meihua country is a remote, steep mountainous area in the north of Lechang. The 1,999 poppies were discovered by police doing regular patrols in the area. Planting opium is against Chinese law, and it didn’t take too long for Shaoguan Police’s anti-drug detachment and the Lechang criminal investigation brigade to destroy all 1,999 plants.

Police believe a villager in the area surnamed Qiu planted the poppies, and they are on the hunt for him now.  It’s believed he slipped away as soon as he knew police discovered his crops.

Haohao
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