It is an unspoken rule to steep abalones in formalin

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

A citizen had suffered from diarrhea for three days when he ate some canned abalones

A citizen of Shandong province Mr. Zhang complained that he had received a box of canned abalones from one of his friends who bought it from a seafood store but he suffered from diarrhea for three days after eating it. The reporter opened one of the rest canned abalones and immediately smelt unpleasant smell. The surface of the can has rusted. The production date on the can is Nov. 22, 2011 and the shelf life is three years so it still is in the quality guarantee period. Watching it in the sun, the reporter can see that the abalones in soup are pale and have a dead color and cut marks.

An industry insider engaging in production and sales of abalones checked the canned abalones with a special tool and told the reporter that it has poor quality. "They even are not abalones because they have not spots and stripes along the side of the body. Therefore, they are unqualified whether from the appearance or quality," the industry insider said.

Zhang went to the relevant department for complaints but was told that he needs to spend over 1,000 yuan for the inspection.