– News from China of late has been full of horror stories about bad food, bad water, bad toys and bogus chemicals. So, when a story hit a week or so back about a fellow making buns for pork rolls out of cardboard suitably softened and bleached with chemicals and made to taste ‘reasonable’ with pork flavoring, it seemed like just another in a long line of ugly stories.
– But, in this case, it turned out to be a hoax.
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It turns out that the cardboard bun scandal–the sensational story that’s had people talking (and cracking jokes, ie “I always thought those lamb skewers tasted a little funny”) over the last few weeks–was an elaborate hoax concocted by a freelance TV reporter in Beijing.
This AP story says that an investigation determined that the reporter, whose last name is Zi, gathered meat, flour and cardboard and convinced four migrant workers to make the buns while he filmed them. Beijing Television (BTV) apologized on-air Wednesday night, and said that the reporter had been detained by police. The station also said it would punish the editors of the program, and take steps to improve its ethical standards.
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