Danger on the Plate

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21739153
AutoresLiping Ma (0000-0002-1646-6767), Liangying Ma (0000-0002-9852-2215), Gary Alan Fine (0000-0002-2431-1562)
Año2024
Volumen24
Número4
Páginas1-9
Fecha de publicación2024-11-01
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGastronomica The Journal of Food and Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1529-3262 • E-ISSN: 1533-8622
EditorialUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/gfc.2024.24.4.1
OpenAlexW4405712055
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas9

In this essay we detail the widespread presence of food contamination rumors in the contemporary People’s Republic of China, focusing on claims that have recently been disseminated on China’s robust social media platforms. As in the West, Chinese consumers are skeptical of the motives of those who provide fast food and premade food, even believing that some providers intend to weaken the fabric of the nation or to use contaminated food as a form of genocide. Conspiracy theories particularly target the imagined malign motives of the United States and Japan. With the emergence of the “New China” as a member of the World Trade Organization, food conglomerates have entered the Chinese market, but suspicions of their intentions are rife. Although definitive proof for these claims is rare, such suspicions are treated as plausible, particularly when the beliefs target widely consumed meats or fruits. With the spread of Kentucky Fried Chicken throughout urban China, production of their poultry is a frequent source of anxious speculation. We use the dynamics of rumor to understand the global prevalence of food contamination beliefs, demonstrating through this case that culinary anxieties are not limited to the West

Business · China · Development economics · Economics · Political science · Rumor · Speculation · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts