Brilio.net/en - The restaurant game is a competitive one, but some just take it to the next level in trying to keep their customers coming back.
35 restaurants in China have been accused of seasoning food with opium poppy, according to the China Food and Drug Administration. These restaurants are now under investigation for serving noodles, fish, fried chicken and hotpot that has been seasoned with the addictive. Five of these restaurants are being officially prosecuted while the remaining ones are still under investigation.
Papaver somniferum is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are derived from, in addition to the highly addictive drugs morphine and its derivative heroin.
China banned the poppy additive in 2013, which contains small traces of codeine and morphine. It is still unclear as to whether or not it makes the food addictive or even delivers a noticeable high.
While the news of cooks possibly trying to get their customers hooked may shock some parts of the world, this has been the norm for Chinese chefs as of late.
In 2014, a noodle vendor was detained for ten days after he admitted that he added the special plant to his recipe to keep customers coming back. The case came to light when police stopped a 26-year old driver and tested him for drugs not long after he had consumed a noodle bowl from the aforementioned vendor.
Detection is nearly impossible without laboratory equipment as the poppy powder is usually mixed with chili oil and other powders.
China is no stranger to food safety issues. In 2014 a Shanghai-based supplier was found selling unsanitary and expired chicken mean to international restaurants such as Starbucks, McDonalds and KFC. In 2008 it was reported that 300,000 victims suffered from melamine additives in their milk and infant formulas. Melamine is a trimer of cyanide and highly poisonous. At least 11 countries stopped all imports of Chinese dairy products the same year.
(Reported by Ivana Lucic)