Karma Strikes Fast, Hard! Chemical Yangmei, No One Dares Eat, Millions of Tons Unsellable, Rotting

Recently in Fujian, one of China's main Yangmei-producing regions, a wave of videos has shown ripe Yangmei fruit going unsold. Many farmers report heavy losses, with trees full of mature fruit left to rot. Some are forced to throw away the unsold Yangmei, or even feed it to pigs. Business is just too hard right now. What can we do? What can we do? Look at the market. There's nobody here. Fruit selling is just too tough. These are such good Yangmei, and we can't sell them. We're literally kneeling to sell our goods. It's heartbreaking. The whole Yangmei trading area is full of sellers, but it takes 10 minutes for even one customer to come by. When a customer does show up, they're treated like royalty. Some vendors said that fruit, originally priced at 200 yuan, is now going for 30 yuan, and still no one buys it. The markets are overflowing with Yangmei, and some of it ends up being thrown out. The problem started when local Yangmei were exposed for being soaked in chemical solutions. Chinese media reported that every May, Yangmei from towns like Fugong and Baishui in Fujian hit the market in bulk. Investigations at more than 10 purchasing points found that fresh Yangmei were soaked in liquids containing banned preservatives and sweeteners. The sweetener packaging clearly states it can be up to 8,000 times sweeter than sugar. Vendors admitted, we don't even dare to eat these soaked Yangmei ourselves. Let me tell you, Yangmei is supposed to taste sweet and sour. Why does it have to be just sweet? How do they make it sweet? Let me show you. It's sweetener. Can't we just eat it sour? Why must it be sweet? This is ridiculous. Life for us Chinese people is just way too hard. Some people want your money, and at the same time, they want your life. Now, even the bosses don't dare to take our Yangmei. Customers across the country won't buy them either. Large batches are turning black on the trees. Even if we pick them, we can't sell them. Labor costs, management fees, fertilizer, all down the drain. When reporters wanted to try the fruit, workers warned them, we don't even dare eat the ones soaked in chemicals ourselves. The reporter asked, aren't you afraid of being checked? The vendor confidently said, if someone comes to inspect, we just use the ones that haven't been soaked. These unscrupulous buyers are not only poisoning customers, they're ruining local farmers. Doing this just to make money, it's insane. Someone asked an expert whether it works to rub pesticides off by hand. The expert said, no, it doesn't. Many pesticides today are systemic. They get absorbed into the plant cells. Washing or soaking for a long time won't remove them, and you might even wash out the vitamins. The Yangmei we bought, on the outside, it's sweet, but on the inside, it's sour. What can we even eat now? Look at what's left to eat. Last night, I bought some Yangmei outside. They looked fresh, but after eating them, the taste was all wrong. Nothing has any aroma anymore. Eating Yangmei now is like dealing with high-tech tricks. It's too extreme. I really advise everyone not to eat them. Am I even eating fruit? This is full-on black technology. Today, I'll show you how to tell if Yangmei has been treated with sweetener. If it has sweetener, try not to give it to kids. Put a berry on your tongue and lick or suck it. If it tastes sweet that way, it definitely has sweetener. A vlogger explained the full story of the soaked Yangmei incident. Yangmei were soaked in banned additives and sold by the thousands daily. Vendors admit they wouldn't eat it themselves. This happened in major Yangmei-producing areas in Fujian. Workers soaked the berries in water containing preservatives and an ultra-sweet additive, including sodium dehydroacetate and a mysterious sweetener 8,000 times sweeter than sugar. The amount is measured by feel. No rules or standards at all. Every day, over 500 kilos of problematic Yangmei are sent to markets across the country with up to three tons during peak season. Many farmers shared videos to complain about the situation. Brothers, the Yangmei was exploded into a crisis. What should I do? My Yangmei haven't even hit the market yet. Fruit farmers work so hard for a whole year, and just at harvest time, the buyers do this, and now everyone's in trouble. We're the real victims here, taking the hit while doing nothing wrong. We worked hard all year, hoping to make some money, and they ruin it like this. It's completely unscrupulous. Because of this soaked chemical Yangmei scandal, it's already 7.50pm and I still have so many berries unsold. Today is possibly the first day in all my years selling Yangmei that I couldn't even get back my costs. Some farmers added that even their Yangmei that weren't soaked in chemicals couldn't sell. These pesticide-free fruits were in varying stages of ripeness. Ah, take the Yangmei for free. Whoever comes can take them. Do I just give them away? We told you to eat the sour sweet ones, but you didn't listen. You wanted the sweet ones. Now it's over, right? With all the chemicals and sweeteners, nobody dares to eat them. And now, we're done. Nothing sells. These unscrupulous middlemen make money, and they've ruined us farmers too. Some farmers claim the soaked Yangmei were the work of middlemen, and the farmers themselves are victims. However, some videos show farmers spraying large amounts of coloring and flavor-enhancing chemicals directly on the berries on the trees. Chinese social media reports that the flesh of natural Yangmei is exposed and can only last a day or two at room temperature. Long-distance transport causes huge losses. Naturally ripened Yangmei taste good and are sweet, but their color is uneven and they spoil easily, making them hard to sell at a good price. Early-picked Yangmei are firm enough for shipping, but too sour to eat. At this point, low-cost chemical solutions became the vendors' go-to choice, instantly solving both preservation and taste problems. Because of widespread use of preservatives and sweeteners, not a single soaked Yangmei could be sold. Losses were huge. Even supermarket discounts didn't attract buyers. Vendors in Fujian held emergency meetings overnight. One vlogger noted, Recently, with mountains of unsold Yangmei, many buyers fled overnight. Millions of tons of Yangmei are stuck in the market. Many pointed out that this soaking practice likely isn't new. It's been done in previous years, but only exposed now. Zhangzhou in Fujian is one of China's main Yangmei-producing areas, sending products to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and other areas. Chinese media reported that the overnight collapse of the Zhangzhou Yangmei market caused the industry to lose at least 120 million yuan. Chinese-produced fruit, vegetables, and processed foods have repeatedly been found to contain unsafe chemicals, raising serious food safety concerns. Public opinion largely blames moral decay under the Chinese Communist Party. Combined with China's recent economic slowdown and declining consumer spending, many produce markets have faced sudden price collapses. In other news, cherry production in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi has surged, far exceeding demand. Fruit that used to be high-end now piles up in wholesale markets. Even with prices dropping to around 1 yuan per half a kilo, buyers are scarce. Faced with heavy transport and labor costs, many buyers have stopped purchasing, leaving farmers with a bumper crop they can't profit from. Some are even losing money on harvest costs. The industry is experiencing a dramatic collapse. Fruit ripens and rots with no way to sell it. Some netizens suspect cherries may have the same chemical problems. Farmers used coloring agents to speed up ripening. The bright red cherries? All sour. Everything soaked in chemicals, everything toxic. Who dares to eat? Not even the sellers eat it themselves, so who would buy them? Vegetables and fruit are soaked. Seafood is treated. Sellers don't dare to eat it, yet they sell it anyway. No ethics at all. In short, this is the result of a complete collapse of social morals, a failing legal system, and a systemic failure of government oversight. Videos show that Chinese orchards are littered with empty pesticide and hormone bottles. A vlogger showcased a mango orchard, where the ground and drainage ditches were chemical bottles. He said there were at least 20 to 30 kinds, including plant growth hormones, herbicides, and insecticides, some even containing deadly dichlorvos, a controversial pesticide that enters waterways. He explained that this isn't an isolated case. China accounts for half of the world's pesticide usage, and there's a reason for it. In February, Chinese state media revealed that farmers were secretly using a highly toxic pesticide called methamidifos to grow sweet potatoes. CCTV reported that planting areas in Jianshui County, Yunnan, and Tiananmen City, Hubei, showed large amounts of pesticide packaging labeled methamidifos and carbofuran. Farmers admitted, we don't eat a single one ourselves. Everything is sold elsewhere. These poison sweet potatoes have reportedly spread to more than 20 provinces in China. Methamidifos is a highly toxic organophosphate pesticide, classified as a 2B carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Long-term ingestion can damage the nervous system, liver, and kidneys. It was banned in mainland China in 2024 for use on vegetables, fruits, and other crops. Carbofuran is a highly toxic carbamate pesticide. Just 0.08 grams can be lethal to an adult. These chemicals make the skin of the sweet potatoes smooth and free of insect marks, boosting their market value. It's not just fruit. Tea isn't safe either. Recently, a Chinese netizen hiking past a tea plantation found piles of empty pesticide bottles near the tea trees. Some bottles were labeled tea sprout and growth enhancer. He asked, can we even drink this tea? An overseas user on X commented, unless it's specially supplied, nothing is safe. Another said, I've seen the same in Zhejiang. All the crops are sprayed with chemical stimulants to make them bigger. How many years have they been doing this in the tea plantations? Do local regulators even know? Another said, it's always been like this. What's strange? Go live with the tea farmers for a while and you'll see. Can you really harvest tea without using pesticides? Someone added, I haven't trusted domestic tea for years. Another concluded, I'll quit tea from now on. On March 7th, a Chinese netizen posted a video. I came to check the growth of Longjing tea today and saw this on the tree. Think about it. What are all those things on the leaves? Walking through this tea plantation, the pesticide smell is really strong. Whatever they sprayed, there hasn't been much time since. Tea has to be healthy. So for the tea we make at our factory, we inspect a lot of the raw leaves in person. But for this tea here, it's too scary. He explained that based on experience, at this time of year, the tea plantation doesn't actually need pesticides. He added that he studied chemistry in university and worked for three years at the Organic Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. So he knows a lot about pesticide chemistry. Earlier around February, a dumpling factory in Shandong received 10 tons of celery. After soaking and washing, they found it all contained copper sulfate and had to discard it. Copper sulfate is commonly used in pesticides or illegal preservation. Large residues are toxic and can cause nausea, vomiting, and worse. Also in February, a video showed a Chinese farmer throwing unknown substances onto harvested potatoes. Experienced netizens identified it as lindane, a highly toxic pesticide long-banned. It was used for preservation, growth inhibition, and insect control. Many complained that China has essentially entered an era of mutual poisoning due to weak food safety oversight. China's problematic agricultural products are also exported. In February, South Korea's Drug and Food Safety Authority issued an emergency notice after a batch of imported black fungus from China was found to have pesticide residues 63 times above the legal limit. Authorities immediately ordered a halt to sales and a full recall. South Korean media outlet, Health Chosun, reported that the affected black fungus products were imported from China by Dow Onko. Tests by South Korea's Food and Drug Safety Authority found carbenzidine pesticide residues at 0.63 milligrams per kilogram, 63 times above the legal limit of 0.01. Carbenzidine is widely used as a fungicide on fruits and vegetables, but poses potential health risks. South Korean safety researchers warned that it can cause birth defects and may irreversibly damage the human reproductive system. Officials said the total imported batch of this black fungus weighed 59,000 kilograms, all in one kilogram packages, with packaging dated December 18, 2025. Authorities demanded that the importer complete a full recall immediately. Food safety in mainland China has reached an intolerable level, with falsification techniques and toxic additives widespread. In recent years, scandals have included poisoned milk powder, ractopamine-laced meat, gutter oil, collard buns, contaminated rice, over 2,000 types of food additives, and mixed-use oil tankers. It's not just fruit. Chinese food in general has been repeatedly shown to be dangerous. On May 17, a netizen in Hainan posted online, My kid dropped some packaged meat snacks on the floor. The ants that ate it had all died. What could be in this stuff? It's terrifying. I won't let my child eat these. The video showed a brand of hand-torn chicken jerky. When crumbs fell on the floor, large number of ants ate them and died within minutes, leaving a shocking scene. The ingredients list included ethyl maltol, a flavor enhancer, and sodium nitrite, a preservative. Chinese media explained that ethyl maltol emits a sweet scent that attracts ants, while sodium nitrite blocks oxygen transport in cells, causing suffocation. Together, they act as a commercial insecticide. Ants died quickly due to their tiny size. Sodium nitrite is commonly used in meat products to prevent botulism, extend shelf life, and maintain bright red color, but under certain conditions, it can form highly carcinogenic nitrosamines. Children's metabolic systems are still developing. Long-term or high consumption of processed meat products containing sodium nitrite could pose serious health risks. This serves as a warning to parents. When choosing snacks for kids, it's not enough to just look at taste or packaging. You also need to check whether the ingredients are safe and reasonable. Related videos sparked concern among netizens. This is terrifying. Don't let children eat this. If ants die from eating it, humans could get sick too. Eating too much could lead to chronic poisoning. Recently, a small workshop in Sichuan that makes handmade egg noodles was exposed. The production area was dirty and chaotic, with noodles stacked directly on the floor. The vlogger noted that China's food safety oversight is very lax. As long as people don't die or there isn't a large-scale poisoning incident, authorities often turn a blind eye.