Paired with a beer or kept in a handbag for a quick bite, the snack latiao has been popular in China for decades. In 2016, latiao sales amounted to 60 billion yuan (USD$8.8 billion) but the snack has recently been making headlines for something else entirely after government officials and healthcare bodies raised major health concerns.
Authorities found that the snack contains additives that could be dangerous for one’s health and that some latiao factories have questionable sanitary conditions. The findings have prompted a larger discussion on China’s food safety regulations and standards, which are different in every province.
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Literally “spicy strip” or “spicy stick” in English, latiao is a chewy, tangy snack made from wheat flour and spicy oil. It was created in the 1990s and originated from Henan province.
In May 2018, the food safety authority of Shanxi Province said that Wei Long, a prominent latiao brand, did not meet its safety standards. They found that the snack contained sorbic acid and dehydroacetic acid, two additives that can be used in some food items but not products made with flavoured flour.
In March this year, 315 Gala, a Chinese television show which exposes problematic products and companies, reported that latiao producers in the Henan and Hunan provinces use questionable food additives and that factories allegedly have unsanitary conditions, such as heavy dirt, black stains, and rusty faucets. Some consumers have also reported stomach pains and diarrhoea after eating the snack.
Other provinces have started inspecting the main manufacturers of the snack in their respective areas, which eventually led Hubei province to suspend all sales of Wei Long in September last year. Hubei’s Food and Drug Administration declared it is not fit for human consumption.
This month, Wei Long released a statement that the product is completely legal and adheres to the standards of food safety in Henan and Hunan, where some of their factories are. The Health Commission of Henan Province earlier declared in August that the safety standards of flour-based snacks (such as latiao) will be abolished by Oct. 1 and that the body will “wait for the development of national standards.”
This is all part of China’s larger bid to make health and food safety standards consistent throughout the country. In 2015, the State Council of China announced a program to unify safety standards with nationwide reforms. The government is still in the process of implementing this nationwide. In May, the National Health Commission drafted the national standards of food additives, but this has not been implemented officially.
This may not be the end for one of China’s favourite snacks but it is an indication of tighter regulations.
