Formaldehyde-Soaked Cabbage: Health Ministry Says China Confirms ‘No Exports to Japan’

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It emerged that napa cabbage was being shipped after being soaked in a formaldehyde solution in Hebei Province, China. Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare explained that it inquired with the Chinese government and received a reply stating that none of it was exported to Japan.

On 5ch, questions piled up over whether it’s really reassuring to ask the very party committing the wrongdoing and simply be told “there isn’t any.” Other posts described avoiding Chinese-made processed foods and pickles, explained the toxicity of formaldehyde, and brought up the past melamine-in-baby-formula scandal.

Cabbage Shipped After Being Soaked in Formaldehyde Solution — Discovered in China, “None Exported to Japan”

In Hebei Province in northern China, it was discovered that napa cabbage had been shipped after being soaked in the chemical formaldehyde.

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Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

5Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:38:50.23ID:eiIhu6nn0
'Oh good, that settles it then~'
Yeah, as if!
6Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:39:00.76ID:F2UgLbmR0
They asked the very people doing the fraud and got told it's fine, so that's the conclusion — no problem?
This is exactly why Japan's Health Ministry is hopeless.
7Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:39:01.48ID:Tq3jcM1T0
To begin with, 100% of napa cabbage sold in Japan is domestic.
The issue is processed foods.
Well, processed foods get treated beforehand, so there's probably not much residue left anyway.
8Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:39:02.14ID:yAxs9fZJ0
Not worth trusting m9(´・ω・`)
10Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:39:23.40ID:LZ0Sq48g0
Taking that at face value is seriously gullible.
11Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:39:43.18ID:YZMWfwpZ0
If anything, it's being routed in through South Korea to dodge this.
13Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:39:54.21ID:/rHbXepL0
Those trendy málà tāng (spicy Sichuan soup) shops everywhere right now sound terrifying.
69Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:51:14.25ID:SQ/aP5zY0
"We asked China and confirmed none was shipped to Japan"
That doesn't cut it — not from anyone with a shred of professional sense.
109Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:57:39.28ID:2MooTBGv0
>>69
Nothing but anxiety here.
103Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:56:38.41ID:XgOxL5nJ0
Probably best to avoid Chinese products for a while.
147Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:09:41.39ID:PmlEAUnN0
>>103
Do that and you'll have nothing left to buy.
167Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:16:15.03ID:0W5e+CVB0
>>103
Ever since that gyoza pesticide-contamination incident, I've made an absolute rule of never buying Chinese products.
Daiso's gummies are increasingly made in China now, but I refuse to buy them!
A lot of peanuts are Chinese too, but I refuse!
90% of store-bought jelly cups are made in China too, so I skip those.
Pineapple jelly I'll buy since some uses Taiwanese pineapple.
Mandarin orange jelly is 100% Chinese, so no thanks.
112Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 00:58:36.50ID:/mkssINv0
Can't you just wash it off and call it good?
206Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:28:12.57ID:7SGQOWYm0
>>112
If formaldehyde is ingested orally, it causes severe corrosive damage to the digestive tract, plus acute systemic poisoning from the formic acid it's metabolized into in the body.
Aqueous formaldehyde solution is extremely toxic — even a small amount can cause serious, life-threatening harm.
120Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:00:06.13ID:wz9283/Q0
I make a point of never buying Chinese-made pickles.
I always throw out the pickles that come with bento boxes.
122Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:01:31.86ID:OS+yjgLE0
>>120
You wouldn't know if the country of origin were faked, though.
Restaurant chains probably fake it all the time too.
135Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:05:56.37ID:dHXEDyfB0
Of course they'd say that.
Of course they would!
142Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:07:47.58ID:NE3eihUC0
>>135
Exactly this!
I'd like them to explain exactly how they "confirmed" it.
155Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:11:59.07ID:Y00QuinL0
There was also that time they put melamine in baby formula.
189Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:22:10.91ID:kOotwdlN0
>>155 Seriously, what an awful country.


In 2008, the harmful substance melamine was found mixed into infant baby formula in China, causing kidney stones and other health damage in a huge number of infants and toddlers.
According to China's then General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (now the State Administration for Market Regulation), by September 17 melamine had been detected in products from 22 of the 109 raw milk powder makers investigated.

By the Chinese government's own count, the incident killed 6 people, and more than 300,000 infants suffered health damage such as kidney stones. Victims' families have voiced growing anger, saying compensation of 2,000 yuan per person (roughly ¥26,000, about $170) is far too little.
158Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:13:33.45ID:wD8coPc70
Shouldn't Japan just halt imports of all processed foods containing Chinese vegetables for now?
Suspend it for about a year until safety is confirmed.
China itself halted imports of Japanese seafood over a political dispute, after all.
179Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:20:04.04ID:5wlyLAfb0
The water pollution there seems worse than even Thailand's.
Chinese goods, processed foods…
you'd have to be an idiot to trust them.

>>158
Agricultural products, processed foods —
a total import ban would be fine lol
184Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:21:33.61ID:FwKiO5Ki0
This isn't a country that tells the truth just because you ask.
What is this, a kid running an errand?
196Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:24:59.76ID:XgOxL5nJ0
>>184
Even if their own investigation finds it's in there, they'll still tell us "we didn't put any in" lol
203Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:27:12.26ID:FwKiO5Ki0
Chinese food products really are dangerous.
218Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:32:50.09ID:vaOFgo+F0
>>203
Cars made in China are scary too.
There was a case before where they used tar-based materials with benzopyrene and the owner got cancer.
Same with lead turning up in Chinese-made tableware, and carcinogens in clothing.
224Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:34:34.47ID:9Q8GUOKb0
The fact that something like this even leaks out suggests China's situation might be really bad.
225Anonymous2026/08/27(木) 01:35:49.81ID:7SGQOWYm0
>>224
If one case gets exposed, there are probably around 100 more like it that never come to light.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread「Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: “Cabbage shipped after being soaked in formalin solution — confirmed with the Chinese government that none was exported to Japan”」.

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