Here in Europe, the meat industry is still recovering from the horse meat scandal. But despite finding horse meat in many processed foods, at least the meat appears to have been relatively safe to eat. True, the meat was not tracked as meat fit for human consumption should be and the horse it came from could have been fed drugs not approved for humans, but at least it did not poison us.
The same can, sadly, not be said about the “lamb” skewers sold on the street in Beijing. A 20 year old tourist from the north of China was admitted to hospital with bruises “the size of sheets of paper” on the back of his legs. The rat poison bromadiolone was found in his blood, which kills rats by reducing blood clotting causing internal bleeding. It is believed that rat, dog and cat are widely used in street food by unscrupulous street hawkers.
Reported in the South China Morning Post, the article goes on to talk about rat, fox and mink meat that were found in meat tested by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security a couple of years ago. People on the web have called for a boycott of street food until it is brought under tighter regulation.
Read the full story on the website on the South China Morning Post