In recent revelations, the long-existing practice in China of mixing edible oil with coal-made oil in oil tanker trucks has sparked outrage. Today, Chinese media further exposed that the mixing of edible oil also occurs in waterway transportation, not just limited to road freight. This has led to a surge in people rushing to purchase self-produced oil, imported oil, or household oil processing machines. However, some critics point out that under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, even if one can avoid mixed edible oil, one cannot escape all food safety issues.
According to a report by Caixin on the 13th, both in maritime and inland river transport, there are no dedicated vessels for transporting edible oil, and the practice of mixing it with other oils is very common.
A captain of a dedicated edible oil transportation vessel told customers, “In the past, no one paid attention to mixing, you could load industrial white oil and transport edible oil, as long as you could provide a tank cleaning certificate. And the tank cleaning process was not very strict, you could just do it casually, then create a fake tank cleaning certificate, and grain and oil companies wouldn’t scrutinize it.”
A manager of a ship cleaning company revealed that it is common in the industry to transport other oils before edible oil and requires cleaning the tanks. “But as long as you pay a couple thousand yuan (RMB), we can directly issue you tank cleaning, degassing, and changing product type certificates.”
It is reported that this tank cleaning company has been engaged in tank cleaning business for over 20 years, with customers throughout the Yangtze River Basin.
After the exposure of the mixing of edible oil and chemical oils on land, all grain and oil companies have been undergoing strict rectification, and maritime authorities have also started rigorous inspections. According to the captain, in the past, fake tank cleaning certificates could be obtained for as little as 3,000 yuan, but now it costs tens of thousands.
Since 2021, ships transporting vegetable oils within the Yangtze River Basin require an “Operation Certificate for Chemical Tanker Vegetable Oil Transport.” Ships that originally obtained the “General Cargo Ship Vegetable Oil Transport” certificate must either exit the market or undergo reconstruction to obtain a new certification. Major grain and oil companies have also built their own fleets of dedicated edible oil transport vessels.
However, several inland port and navigation personnel have stated that even after the dedicated transportation of edible oil, due to lax supervision, many third-party edible oil water transport companies still engage in mixing practices.
An exposé by the Beijing News on July 2nd revealed that some oil tanker trucks, after unloading kerosene, directly loaded edible soybean oil without cleaning the tanks, exposing the widespread open secret of mixing in the industry. The companies implicated in this exposure include edible oil companies Yihai Kerry Golden Dragon Fish Food Group, Huifu Grain and Oil Group, Shandong Luhua Group, and China Grain Reserves Corporation, among many state-owned and private enterprises.
The chaos of mixed transportation of oil in tanker trucks has been present for twenty years. Southern Daily had reported in 2005 on the tanker truck chaos of “difficulty in preventing cross-contamination during tank cleaning, where trucks carrying dangerous chemicals subsequently carry food.” Ten years later, Hunan TV’s Urban Channel once again exposed the insider information of “transporting edible oil in vehicles carrying toxic chemicals.”
In recent days, many consumers, due to concerns about the quality of cooking oil, have been flocking to supermarkets to buy locally self-produced “self-operated cooking oil.” At the same time, imported oils and household oil pressing machines have suddenly become popular on e-commerce platforms.
In recent years, food safety incidents have become rampant and unrelenting. Poisonous infant formula, tainted rice, toxic pork, tainted bean sprouts, dyed capsules, recycled cooking oil, Sudan Red tainted duck eggs, colored steamed buns… In mainland China today, there are hardly any food items that are genuinely safe.
Commentator Yuan Bin wrote an article today on the Epoch Times, stating that based on the income of ordinary people, it is impossible to buy all imported food or make everything oneself. In the end, even if the cooking oil you consume is relatively safe, the other foods you eat are still unsafe and full of risks.
“Under the rule of the Communist Party, the Chinese people today not only endure political pressure and economic exploitation but also eat cautiously at the dinner table, unable to relax.”
The China oil tanker mixing incident has triggered public opinion, and official media has rarely criticized the implicated state-owned enterprises and accused them of “poisoning,” implying a widespread occurrence of cancer in China related to this issue.
The Chinese Communist Party has always suppressed public opinion, making many social hotspots off-limits for discussion. However, this time it’s different, with official media stirring up, and the State Council of the CCP claiming to investigate. Many mainland Chinese citizens told “New Tang Dynasty Television” that the authorities are taking advantage of this incident, blaming cancer outbreaks on tainted cooking oil following the forced vaccination during the pandemic.
A Chinese citizen, Mr. Zheng, said, “It’s probably a diversion tactic. Maybe those who took the vaccine a few years ago are now suffering severe side effects. After I took it, all sorts of problems arose, including knee pain. That’s just considered mild; many now have lung cancer. Those who have taken it all have lung nodules. In fact, the current oil tanker ordeal is just being made a scapegoat.”
Another Chinese citizen, Mr. Zhou, mentioned that authorities may scapegoat some personnel and units from state-owned enterprises. Nevertheless, food safety issues are prevalent in present-day China, with oil contamination being just one of many problems.