Typically when you hear about food scandals in China, it's dire stuff, dangerous stuff that endangers lives. This one, by comparison, seems like a minor drop in the bucket; but it is making waves just the same. Ajisen Ramen, the giant ramen chain which has 588 stores in China (and a few in the LA and OC area), has been accused by Chinese authorities for lying about what it uses for its soups.
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In China, the chain has advertised that its noodle soup was prepared by
boiling pork bones for up to 20
hours, a claim that has subsequently been proven false by the Shanghai
Municipal Food and Drug
Supervision Administration. Tests had apparently determined that the broth is made with a concentrated solution diluted in water.
The company has admitted their mistake, but that wasn't enough to
prevent the company's Hong Kong Stock Exchange traded shares from
dropping 25% after news of the scandal broke. It has been also reported
that Chinese customers are staying away.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.