Chinese Companies Accused of Selling Potentially Deadly Plastic Rice

A major food safety scandal involving fake rice recently rocked China; News reports suggested that the grain is produced by mixing the potatoes with industrial synthetic resin. There were rumors of "inexpensive but profitable" rice exported to other Asian countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and India as well.

The fake grains can hardly be distinguished from natural rice when raw. The only way to identify plastic rice by cooking it - it remains very difficult and hard to digest. One publication explained soup cooked rice with plastic forms a plastic film on top, which burns when heated.

Health experts are warning people that the grain, if detected, can wreak havoc on the digestive system. According to an official from the Chinese Restaurant Association, eating three bowls of rice is equivalent plastic consuming one plastic bag!

News of fake rice is circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook and mobile messaging app WhatsApp for a few years now. Reports suggest that the rice was initially sold in the Chinese market, mainly in Taiyuan in Shanxi province. Now, people are afraid that it found its way to other countries in Asia. The rice was reportedly sold only in small shops, large supermarkets do not, which makes it more difficult to detect.

Hasan Malek, Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumerism Malaysia, said that people should not panic over the news until it was officially confirmed. "The news may be true or not, we do not know," he told Star Online. "We also do not know whether the fake rice has entered the country, but we can not take things lightly and carry out investigations throughout the country."

Hasan said that an investigative team will focus on testing rice samples in small shops. "We are conducting our investigation, but I would urge buyers to come forward and report to the ministry if they come across such rice. All reports produced will be treated confidentially." He added that the plastic rice would be difficult to detect if mixed with normal rice.

Singapore Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) also reacted to the news. "As part of routine surveillance Ava, the imported rice are regularly inspected and sampled to ensure compliance with our standards and requirements on food safety," a spokesman told The Straits Times. "We have not received any feedback on the fake rice."

The fake rice scandal is one of many food safety issues that the Chinese authorities had to deal with. In 2010, a company Shaanxi is involved in adding spice to ordinary rice and passing it off as the more expensive "Wuchang rice. And in 2008, infant milk formula is mixed with a plastic compound called melamine. Six babies died during this time, while 300,000 others suffered from serious kidney problems.

We covered some fake Chinese food on Oddity Central as well. Four years ago we posted about in regards to a strong "beef extract" additive used in restaurants to open in cow breeding, and in 2013 had a concrete-filled walnuts.

The Glowing Firefly Squids of Toyama Bay

Every year, between March and June, the 14-km coast of Japan Toyama Bay is lit up in blue. The electrifying light show is not man-made; It is a natural phenomenon, caused by thousands of bioluminescent cephalopods known as 'glowing Squids Firefly'. These fascinating creatures usually live in 1,200 ft underwater, but pushed over the waves during th Hotaru (firefly squid) season.

Firefly squid, or Watasenia Scintillans, usually about three inches long and covered with photophores. Large photophores are present around their eyes and the tips of their tentacles, while small photophores cover the whole body. The light-producing photophores contain chemicals that are responsible for the squid bioluminescence. Let's have similar photophores, so the squid is named after them.

The arrival of Firefly Squid creates a festive atmosphere along the coast - it's almost like an annual reunion of sorts. Thousands of squid can coordinate their deep blue lights flash simultaneously or alternate in endless patterns, creating a twinkling effect. Each pattern serves a different purpose. On-and-off flashes attract small fish, squid where pounce on their powerful tentacles. Counter-illumination allows the squid to blend in with light cascading from the top, protecting them from predators. The creatures mating season 'also coincides with this period; Millions of squid came over in the evening to fertilize and drop their eggs in Toyoma Bay. The season brings thousands of tourists in the region, who flock to the bay to admire the unique display of lights.

The Hotaru Bottom fishing port Museum Namerikawa, Toyama Prefecture, is the world's only museum dedicated to the firefly squid. The museum conducts sightseeing tours firefly squid every year between March and May. Sightseeing boat leaving the port shortly after 03:00, making a short trip to fixed nets located about 1 to 2 km offshore. As the fishermen haul in their nets, firefly squid light makes the surface of the sea to glow, making tourists gasp in delight.

The museum also has interactive exhibits and a research center to study the mating behavior squids' and sustainable fishing methods. There is a restaurant on the roof that provides a stunning view of Toyama bay, and serves delicacies such as firefly squid tempura. The gift shop squid in freeze-dried, powdered, canned and sweetened varieties.

Firefly squid is considered a delicacy in Japan, and there are many ways to eat them - raw, grilled, stewed or tempura. Travel reports the BBC prefer living in pop eyes off freshly caught raw squid and swallow them whole. There's also fresh squid sushi or sashimi to be paired with a couple of glasses of local welfare. Do not expect the dishes to glow in the plate, though!

The Mexican Town Where Women Engage in Bloody Fist Fights to Call the Rain

Every year, in the month of May, the women from the Nahua village of Guerrero, Mexico, get together to beat the living daylights out of each other. All the blood they spill during the fight is collected in the bucket, and later used to plow and water their lands. The villagers believe that this strange ritual will bring rain and provide a bountiful harvest!

The festival, like many others in Mexico, combines Catholic and prehispanic tradition. On the first day, women will wake up early to make large quantities of food. They prepare turkey, chicken, rice, boiled eggs, POZOLE, mole, and tortillas, they take along with them in the yard fighting. On the official site, lay them on the food and decorate the room with flowers and turkey inflated bellies. They recite prayers to the Virgin Mary and the local rain god Tlaloc, after which it is time for the battle to begin.

The villagers stood in a circle, forming a ring of sorts, waiting for their opponents to come from neighboring communities. The village of La Esperanza and El Rancho Las Lomas, in particular, have a long standing rivalry - they fight in a field that lies on the border between the two cities. When everyone has arrived, the women will begin to seek out competition, challenging them to fight. The older women, the seasoned warrior, provoke younger girls to get into the ring and spill some blood.

When the opponent is decided, the women will get in the ring and face each other, tying up their hair and taking off their jewelry. One of them throws the first punch, the crowd begins to cheer, and pretty soon, a bloody battle was conducted. The woman did not seem to care about winning, all they want is to reveal and collect as many blood as possible. They may ask for a time out to clean their nose bloodied, but they'll get right to the punching when they are done. Men and children sometimes join in as well, and the fighting will continue until dark, after which everyone hugs each other and head back home.

Why women are doing all the fighting, and not the people, you ask? According to Vice Magazine, farmers were out tending their land, so the task is left to the women and children.

Professor David Delgado of Chapingo University, spent 12 years studying the harvest festival, believes fighting ritual can be traced back to the Aztecs. "It was originally linked to the beginning of the harvest of maize," he explained. "The other important issue here is the symbol. The people here are three communities formed and when one would take to the turf of others, they will compete with one another. So they say that because of their clash, took the god Tlaloc the rain on them. "

"Two of these communities started a sort of contest to see who can get water from behind Tlaloc," he added. "Escape to the hill. So they went up and stole the water, but they started fighting for them when they came down. And so they say that the fights are held on this day since then. They every drop of blood is a drop of water, and consequently standing tradition. "

The annual parade Tigrada - celebrated in May in the main town of Zitala, Chilapa, and Acatlan - features many other rituals, all centered around praying for rain. People are put in jaguar clothing and beat each other with whips. They also organize dance and other offerings, but the main purpose of the festival is to reveal their blood and offer it in exchange for rain.

Believe it or not, it is not only the bloody festival in the world. Each year, the community of Peru holds Takanakuy Chumbivilcas, a festive event where people get to resolve their differences with the old fashioned way, with punches and kicks. However, as the fighting women of Guerrero, combatants shake hands and walk away on good terms after the battle.

However, both the violent traditions pale in comparison to GOTMAR Mela, a century-old stone throwing fight between two rival Indian village. Held every year, the event leaves hundreds injured and even death.

Kindhearted Woman Saves 100 Dogs From Being Eaten During Controversial Festival

A 65-year-old dog lover from China has gone to great lengths to save as many dogs as he possibly could from being eaten during Yulin Dog Meat Festival this year. He managed to pay around $ 1,000 for the issuance of 100 otherwise doomed canines. It may not sound like much, but the media attention his actions taken by the international media also helped raise awareness about the cruel festival, thus increasing the chance that it will be banned in the near future.

Yang Xiaoyun, a retired school teacher from Tianjin, China, traveled 1,500 miles from his home in the city of Yulin, to save scores of dogs from being killed and eaten during the Dog Meat Festival. Shared internet portal Netease Chinese show 65-year-old woman walking through a market in which the dogs are kept in cages and payments for different amounts of money for their release . Reports say he ended up paying 7,000 yuan ($ 1,000) to save 100 dogs.

It is estimated that around 10,000 dogs were killed and sold as meat during Yulin Dog Meat Festival, an event meant to ring in the summer solstice by promoting the consumption of dog meat. Started in 2010, the dog food festival is gaining in popularity, despite the cultural attitudes toward eating cats and dogs the change for the better in China and throughout Asia. This year, the Yulin caused international outcry, with animal rights organizations, celebrities and millions of individuals worldwide who speak against the display of cruelty and appeal to local governments to ban the festival.

As recent efforts Yang Xiaoyun was not enough of a testament to his love for animals, it is revealed that his home in Tianjin is also a shelter for abandoned dogs and cats. Called "Common Home for Stray Animals", Yang's home area of ​​around 1,500 dogs and over 200 cats. He can only afford to feed them steamed corn bread twice a day, and rely on volunteers and donations to function, but he always manages to make ends meat end. They also dedicated steward of medical assistance to animals in need of it.

Chinese media reports that the recently rescued 100 dogs were making return trips Tianjin Yang Xiaoyun, to join him shelter.

Yang Xiaoyun is one of the few kind souls have taken it upon themselves to help stray animals in China. In the past, we reported about other kindhearted people, like Ha Wenjin, a woman who takes care of the thousands of dogs and cats, Lola Bai, who hasspent the last 15 years of his life caring the stray canines and felines, or Wang Yanfang getting feeds and tends to more than 1,300 dogs per day. It is people like these that will help restore your faith in humanity.

The Man Who Made Millions by Selling Rocks as Pets

Gary Ross Dahl, who died earlier this year at age 78, will always be remembered for inventing the "Pet Rock", a 1970s toy craze department. The brilliant salesman sold True rocks for a living, and managed to make millions through its "ridiculously successful marketing techniques."

Even I started His career as an advertising copywriter, entrepreneur Change When Dahl turned his notion of selling pet rocks took off. It all started one night in the mid-'70s, while having a drink at a local bar in Los Gatos, California. People around him are talking about pets, and about how difficult it is to feed, walk and clean up after them.

Struck by sudden inspiration, Dahl stated that he had no such problem with his own pets. "I have a pet rock," I told the crowd. And his response was received so well that I began to toy with the idea of ​​eventually setting up a business around it.

Dahl found two investors, visited a building supply store, and bought a box of Mexican beach smooth stone for a penny apiece. I know that all I need is to pack each stone beautiful, and they want to sell for a lot more than it was previously valued. After much trial and error, I finally designed a smart cardboard carrying case, complete with air holes for the 'pet' to breathe. The stone is gentle nestled inside the box, on a bed of softwood shavings.

Also added a handbook for good measure, which later proved to be a stroke of genius. Containing instructions on the care, feeding, and house training Pet Rocks This little book. "If, when you remove the stones from the STI box and it appears to be excited, to put it in some old newspapers," it read. "Rock will know what the role is for and will require no further instruction. It Stay on paper until you move it."

It is this Manual Randy managed to catch the attention of millions, the Pet Rock constructing a nation-wide phenomenon. Dahl's timing was impeccable, rock HAD hit the market at the right time. The Vietnam War and Watergate ended HAD begins. "There was a whole lot of bad news going on," I told the Houston Chronicle in 1999. "People are down. It's not a really good time for the national psyche. I think the Pet Rock is just a good giggle. Everyone who needed a good laugh and the media ate it up. "

Then releases STI during Christmas 1975, Dahl worked up to half of the storm, even earning a place in the legendary Tonight Show. Within a few months, 1.5 million rocks are sold at $ 3.95 apiece, and the demand is higher than ever. "I had a phone in each ear," Dahl recalled an interview in 2011. "I taught my PR guy to pretend with me so I could answer my call" Sales Successfully wonderful for a while -. Dahl moved to a big house with a swimming pool and traded his Honda to Mercedes.

But his success was too good to last long. As reported by the New York Times, "the simplicity of his incredible proved its undoing." I even had the name of His trademarked product, I can not stop others from selling stones in a box. Lots of people did just that, and took his concept to new levels. There Bicentennial Rock, etched in the American flag. And someone began offering college degrees for Pet Rocks, and $ 3 for a bachelor and $ 10 for a Ph.D. Business Dahl began to suffer, and in the late '70s, I was sued by his investors and ended up paying them six figure judgment.

With the money I earned His Pet Rock business, Dahl and his wife designed and built the Carry Nations Saloon in Los Gatos. He later returned to advertising, and even wrote a book called Advertising for Dummies, published in 2001. But I always remembered for the Pet Rock phenomenon. Earned him a good measure of wealth and fame, and he made wary by hordes of inventor who thronged him for advice.

"There's a bizarre lunatic fringe who feel I owe them a living," Dahl told AP in 1988. "Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life would not have been simpler if I had not done it." Agreed to his wife: "Over time, however, people came to him with strange ideas, relying on him to do for them what I HAD done himself. And a lot of times They are really, really stupid idea, "he said.

"I'm sick of the whole damn thing," I told the Houston Chronicle.

Bon Appetite! 40-Year-Old “Zombie Meat” Sold in Restaurants Across China

after rice plastic, concrete-filled walnuts, flavored pork and beef, the latest food scandal in China involves expired meat be at least 30 to 40 years old!

Officials in the Chinese food safety Have seized more than 100,000 tonnes of meat, worth 3 billion yuan (484 million US dollars), including pork trotters from the 1970s and chicken wings from the 1980s. As the news went viral online, netizens coined the word 'zombie meat' to refer to expired, oxidized meat.

800 tonnes of illegal meat is confiscated from Hunan province alone, worth an eye-watering 10 million yuan - one of the largest hauls food safety in recent years. 20 illegal gangs have been cracked down and arrested 22 people, including two leaders treats ring.

"It stank!" Said Zhang Tao, a customs official from Hunan. "The entire truck was full. I almost threw When I opened the door."

ACCORDING TO Yang Bo, deputy director of the customs bureau in Changsha, the smuggled meat is not inspected or quarantined. Most of it comes from stockpiles of food prepared in the US, smuggled through Vietnam and Hong Kong, with low-cost unrefrigerated truck. This causes the meat to rot and smell during the journey. When it reaches China, the meat is refrozen and sent to various provinces across the country. Such as meat Bo Said that can carry bird flu, foot and mouth disease, as well as mad cow disease.

"Frozen food smugglers have a network covering the whole country so any crackdown needs to be a multi-province effort, especially in the main battlefields of Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan," I added. "Concentrated efforts will be focused on the leadership of the gang to take the problem from the root and ensure the safety and health of consumers."

But that's a lot easier said than done - Insiders say that despite crackdowns and arrests, the trade continues to thrive. It costs only 17 yuan (2.74 US dollars) per year to store a ton of expired frozen meat, and the income is insane. So there will always be criminals willing to smuggle zombie meat. Make sure you smooth and organized gang transactions - They offer one-stop-shop for consumers, the inclusion of finding suppliers, Organising transportation, customs clearance, and delivery.

Surprisingly, rotten, stinky, expired meat has plenty of customers, mostly in smaller cities restaurants Where inspection procedures are lax. Zombie doubts meat can not be sold directly to consumers because it is oxidized and appear black. But restaurants are reliable for preparing the meat so that customers can not really tell the difference. At least two million tonnes of decades-old beef is believed to be consumed by unsuspecting Chinese consumers every year! That sounds scary, but many netizens are promising to find me inhumane situations. Someone jokingly commented: "Waiter, I'll have a 1980 cut of beef, and a '82 Coke."

African Pastor Turns Woman’s Hair into Delicious Food for His Congregation

A shepherd of the sheep from South Africa, who made headlines for former prayer for His Society Until they got, now in the news again for turning hair of a young woman having her followers foods straight and eat it on its head mule.

Page pictures posted on Facebook End Times Ministries Apostles' show pastors, prophets Mnguni Penuel, Putting His Hands girls. He was a member of the Society was no holding her hair found their hands and whos attempt to eat it. These pictures are captioned. "Man of God held in a woman's head from God Thapelo Mabopane and became her hair to the children food for men and women of God who eat Everything depends on what we say we bring life Due we speak to them. "

News Reports Early service Suggest Less Na, Na Mnguni ordered a piece meal Become fabric. Immediately congregants began to chew on it. During a service in May I speak with them about Adam and Eve and What if they were naked in the Garden of Eden. I mentioned in Genesis 2:25, "Having no clothes on them, they stand with nothing requiring them to shelter from the heat or cold or to hide any part of their body going out of sight."

I TOLD Help God that they later could even change time, and that when people started sweating and started taking their clothes off. Their behavior in response to a shepherd, says it is a sign of recovery. Everyone in the Church, I have insisted, healed and delivered from evil.

Controversial sermon shepherd Has drawn criticism online. "It should win a world record for stupidity," wrote one user Nairaland forum.

"Madness in the Church season 5," wrote another. "As artificial hair that is now a delicious meal in South Africa."

Believe it or not, these stunts are not uncommon exactly the new generations the African Church. Last year, Pastor Lesego Daniel, Rabboni Ministries Centre, SAID His followers eat grass to grow in God Coming more. Which they did ... whos