#我在Gate广场过新年 In China, what causes merchants to become both corrupt and cunning, and anti-human?

Shrimp (frozen shrimp): Excessive addition of phosphate-based water-retaining agents to increase weight, absorbing water before freezing and selling.
Silver fish, small dried fish: Soaked in industrial formaldehyde for preservation and extended shelf life at room temperature.
Squid, beef tripe: Bleached with industrial hydrogen peroxide to whiten the color.
Sea cucumbers: Soaked in caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) to swell and increase weight.
Pangasius fillets: High concentration of water-retaining agents to prevent water loss and increase weight.
Frozen hairtail fish: Repeated thawing and refreezing to mask spoilage.
Live shrimp: In some cases, banned antibiotics are used to maintain survival rates.
Small workshop sausages: Excessive use of nitrites to keep the red color.
Freshly made meatballs, fish balls: Excessive use of phosphates + baking soda to create an unusually elastic texture.
Braised beef, cooked beef: Illegal coloring agents to make the meat appear bright red.
Pork: Water injection or brine to increase weight.
Roast duck, roasted chicken: Excessive use of coloring or caramel coloring to mask aging of raw materials.
Chicken: Residual veterinary drugs (sold before withdrawal).
Fried sunflower seeds: Spraying flavoring to cover stale taste.
Fried sunflower seeds: Violations or excessive use of sweeteners (sodium saccharin, sucralose) to enhance sweetness.
Peanuts: Excessive mold inhibitors or stir-frying to hide mold.
Pistachios: Dyes to cover yellowing or oldness.
Satsuma mandarins: Repeated spraying of mold inhibitors or overly concentrated to extend shelf life.
Oranges: Excessive use of surface preservatives.
Citrus fruits: Using chemicals to cover mold spots that appear during transportation.
Bananas: Illegal use of calcium carbide for ripening.
Bananas: Re-refrigerated after ripening to delay blackening.
Mangoes: Illegal ripening agents to accelerate market entry.
Big cherries: Excessive spraying of antifungal agents to prolong appearance.
Strawberries: Pesticides sold before the safe interval.
Blueberries: Repackaged and resold after cold chain disruption.
Goji berries: Industrial sulfur fumigation, sulfur dioxide levels severely exceeding standards.
Star anise: Sulfur fumigation to maintain color.
Chili powder: Illegal dyeing with Sudan Red to enhance red color.
Dried chili peppers: Dyes to cover old stock.
Eggs: Illegal addition of melamine in feed to artificially boost protein detection levels.
Salted duck eggs: Illegal dyes to make yolks redder.
Milk powder: Melamine to artificially increase protein test results.
Egg products: Feed contamination leading to melamine entering eggs.
Compressed candies, weight-loss products: Illegal addition of diuretics or medicinal ingredients.
Functional alcohol: Added medicinal-like ingredients to enhance “effects.”
Cooking oil: Oil tanks not cleaned after transporting chemicals, then used to transport edible oil.
Bulk oil: Mixed with low-cost or recycled oil.
Rice flour, noodles: Illegal whitening agents.
Vermicelli: Industrial alum or illegal additives to increase toughness.
Bean sprouts: Illegal growth regulators to make them thick without roots.
Spinach, leafy vegetables: Pesticide residues exceeding safety limits.
Mushrooms: Bleaching treatment.
Tofu: Use of industrial gypsum or excessive coagulants to increase hardness and extend shelf life.
Dried bean curd sticks: Use of formaldehyde-releasing agents (formaldehyde, sodium bisulfite) for whitening and preservation.
Vermicelli / rice noodles (wet noodles): Illegal preservatives to extend shelf life at room temperature.
Youtiao (fried dough sticks): Excessive alum to make them fluffy and crispy.
Steamed buns: Illegal whitening or bleaching agents to make the color whiter.
Bun filling: Excessive water added to keep soft and increase weight.
Frozen dumplings: Poor-quality meat filling combined with flavoring to mask odor.
Street barbecue sausages: Coloring and flavoring to cover low-quality ingredients.
Duck necks, duck wings (marinated): Reusing marinade and adding preservatives to extend sales period.
Cold mixed kelp: Bleached with hydrogen peroxide to make the color bright green.
Dried daylilies: Excessive sulfur fumigation to maintain color.
Dried bamboo shoots: Sulfur dioxide fumigation to prevent mold.
Wood ear mushrooms: Bleached to appear unnaturally white.
Dried black fungus: Dyes used to make the color darker.
Red dates: Soaked in sugar syrup to increase weight.
Candied fruits: Excessive sweeteners and preservatives to prolong shelf life.
Pickled vegetables / preserved vegetables: Improper control of nitrites leading to high levels.
Pickled chili products: Excessive preservatives.
Sauerkraut: Non-natural fermentation, using acidifiers for quick production.
Bottled chili sauce: Overlapping use of preservatives to extend shelf life.
Sesame paste: Mixed with other oils to reduce costs.
Low-cost ham slices: High starch content and added water-retaining agents to mimic meat texture.
Beef jerky: Flavoring used to mask spoilage or low-quality meat.
Shredded squid (snacks): Bleached to color.
Jelly (low-cost): Illegal use of colorants or sweeteners in unregulated ways.
Ice cream (low-cost): Flavoring used to cover insufficient milk fat.
Honey: Syrup blending to imitate pure honey.
Royal jelly products: Added flavorings to mask spoilage.
Bulk white alcohol: Edible alcohol mixed with industrial spirits to imitate grain alcohol.

The root cause of food safety issues is not human nature, but the incentive structure. Trust, consumer habits, and retail systems all influence the situation, but they are not decisive factors. What truly determines market behavior is the cost-benefit relationship established by the system. If following the rules costs more than violating them, or if the consequences of violations can be dispersed or evaded, problems will recur. Systems do not eliminate human weaknesses but determine whether those weaknesses are amplified.