Clusterf*sh: Panic Ensues After Freshwater Fish Pulled from Tanks at Beijing Markets

An odd turn of events has caused many of the live freshwater fish typically sold in Beijing markets to disappear and the city's food safety bureau to deny there's a problem, instead telling everyone that everything's just dandy with the city's fish supply.

China's ECNS News Service reports in a rather roundabout clusterf*** way that the fish were not pulled because they failed some sort of safety violation, but rather that the vendors did it themselves when rumors of a spot safety check ripped through the usual channels like wildfire.

According to ECNS, Beijing's local food and drug administration published a notice on its official Weibo account on Wednesday, saying, "over 90 percent of aquatic products sold in the city pass quality inspections."

Good to know – only one in 10 are unfit for  consumption!

Allegedly the rumor started when China's food safety watchdog issued a memo on November 17, saying the seafood in 10 cities nationwide would be spot-checked for contamination. Before such a spot-check could occur, many had already pulled their fish – which gives you a good indication of the vendors' own faith in the safety of their own fish supplies.

Local media reports claim that giants such as Carrefour and Walmart are among those that had pulled their fish.

Headlines in today's Beijing News has the food safety watchdog *not* saying, "hey, these fish are drug-free," but rather, "it's not a problem with the water (非水体污染 fēi shuǐtǐ wūrǎn)."

Skeptical consumers in China are often worried that edible fish stocks are pumped full of antibiotics and other drugs to survive in contaminated fish nurseries. We haven't taken a PH kit to a Beijing fish tank as of late but it's often the norm rather than the exception to have at least one dead fish floating in the tank, usually acting as a big, fat contaminant for the other fish to feed on, and calling into question general cleanliness.

So, if you're out tonight and see deep discounts on freshwater fish at your local restaurant, we'll give you three guesses as to why.

Photo: gettyimages.com