Chinese Farmers Spraying Wolfberries with Industrial Sulfur: State Media

At least half a dozen farm workers and dealers openly described on camera how the farms would soak the berries in sodium metabisulfite, a banned substance in the industry, and spray them with industrial sulfur to preserve their appearance.

“The sulfur smoked ones are red and beautiful,” a shop owner told the broadcaster. “With sulphur, you can keep it longer and the pests don’t grow. Its toxicity is high”.

CCTV broadcast footage of farm workers preparing vats of thick, foaming sodium metabisulphite before dousing the wolfberries in the dangerous chemical. Sodium metabisulfite is sometimes used in food preservation, but is banned in the local wolfberry industry, according to state media.

Some farms would also add the step of fumigating the wolfberry with industrial sulfur instead of drying their crop in the sun, according to clips released by CCTV.

Wolfberries, also known as goji berries, are popular in traditional Chinese medicine and dishes such as hotpot, and have been marketed as a superfood in the West. In 2023, mainland China exported about 14,000 metric tons of wolfberry.

“People like you who sell in other places have no idea,” one shopkeeper told CCTV. “It’s just good looking.”

Many of the traders and farmers spoke about the harm of eating wolfberry contaminated with chemicals, but said the practice was common.

“With sulfur, sell for 17 yuan to 18 yuan per cat. No smoking, it is 10 yuan per cat, 9 yuan per cat. This is not a good price,” said a rural farm worker.

CCTV said its staff tested the wolfberries and found them all unsafe for consumption.

A day after the report was published, the Jingyuan County Food Safety Committee Office announced that it had launched an investigation into local wolfberry production and sales.

“Those responsible for violating the law and regulations will be severely punished according to law,” the office said in a statement.

The Golmud city government released a similar statement on Monday.

The Wolfberry scandal comes just two months after another major food safety incident stunned the country.

In early July, the state-run Beijing News said it had discovered several cases of unwashed chemical tankers being used to transport cooking oil. The practice had become so common that workers talked about it as an industry standard, according to the outlet.

China has been plagued for decades by a history of food scandals — from tainted milk powder to repurposed gutter oil in restaurants — that has reduced domestic consumers’ confidence in commercially sold food.

Since his start as China’s leader, Xi Jinping has vowed to crack down on food safety violations, saying they would be central to how people perceive the government.

“If our party, while ruling China, can’t even ensure food safety and can’t do it in the long term, then people will start to question whether we are qualified to rule,” he said in 2013.

Allegations of excessive sulfur fumigation in the traditional Chinese medicine industry have also surfaced, leading retailers to often sell wolfberry and other products as “sulfite-free”.