The latest is Taiwanese bubble tea. It turns out the chewy little pearls in the bubble tea in Shenzhen have excessive additives.

The Shenzhen Daily reports:

The city checked 14 batches of the chewy tapioca balls across the city, and six of the batches had additive problems, said Chen Jianming, the administration’s vice head.

Four of the six faulty batches were found to contain phenylformic acid, sorbic acid and saccharin sodium, which are not allowed to be added into drinks. Two batches were found to contain excessive amounts of methylacetopyranone.

Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?

We should probably do a brief recap of what you can’t eat in the PRD:

• Food at certain Guangzhou restaurants (addictive poppy powder added)
• Mooncakes (plasticiser added)
• Bamboo shoots in Dongguan (washed in the toilet)
• Beans in Guangzhou (tainted with illegal pesticide)
• Chicken wings in Guangzhou (fake)

Bon appétit.

Want China Times reported:

The irregularity was first uncovered by the Guangzhou Food and Drug Administration in June last year. During a spot check of 70 of the city’s restaurants, inspection officials found that two of the restaurants were using the addictive poppy powder in marinade bags.

The kitchen staff at the two restaurants initially told inspection officials that they had no idea what was in the bags, and claimed that were delivered in that way by suppliers. However, they later reneged and admitted that the bags contained poppy powder.

Both restaurants were fined RMB50,000.

Despite the highly addictive nature of poppy powder, consuming it may be among the least bad things you might eat at Guangzhou restaurants.

(h/t Shanghaiist)