There have been several cases of unhealthful products sold in China, perpetrated by unscrupulous manufacturers wanting to make a quick buck. It is commonly seen in the F&B industry. Food that is obviously unsafe for human consumption, some even containing banned substances, is sold anyway. I thought this would be limited to China, so imagine my disbelief when I found out that this is happening right here in Singapore! By a renowned local company, no less!

If you’re a Chinese Singaporean, chances are your family would be buying bak kwa (pork jerky) this Chinese New Year. Bak kwa is a staple for the festive season, alongside mandarin oranges and “love letter” egg rolls.

Bak kwa is most commonly found in the form of square slices. Of course, the original form of this barbecued pork wouldn’t be found in such neat slices, would it? So what happens is that after the bak kwa seller grills the meat, he would cut it into tidy squares like these.

Bee Cheng Hiang Stall

Now, when he cuts the bak kwa into squares, there would be long strips of extra bits left behind right? Having spent a long time over the fire, these leftover pieces now look black and are so badly charred that they are no longer safe for consumption. The charred part of meat cooked on a grill contains heterocyclic amines that greatly increase cancer risks!

And so, the seller would simply throw these away.

But guess what a renowned bak kwa company in Singapore does with these leftover pieces of black cancer-inducing meat?

Why, it sells these back to its customers of course! Innocently packaged in plastic as though it was all good and new and fit to be eaten!

Charred Bak Kwa sold by Bee Cheng Hiang

Bee Cheng Hiang is no doubt the biggest and most famous bak kwa company in Singapore. With more than seventy years of history tucked in its belt, people trust that it has enough social responsibility to sell only meat that is, at the very least, fit for consumption!

Well just yesterday, Bee Cheng Hiang sold us a packet of these “loose” pieces of bak kwa that are promised to taste as good as the square slices. And at $26 per kilogram, it’s not exactly dirt cheap for this trash.

Charred Bak Kwa sold by Bee Cheng Hiang

Charred Bak Kwa sold by Bee Cheng Hiang

(Note: I did NOT cut the pieces in any way, or alter the colour to make them look blacker than they really are.)

Now tell me, do these black and badly charred pieces of bak kwa look safe to you? Would you eat these? Those long strips have obviously been cut off from the charred sides of square slices and should have been thrown away long ago. Instead, Bee Cheng Hiang has opted to sell these harmful pieces of meat to unsuspecting customers! Half of it was so charred, we had to throw it all away. I am no health freak, but charred meat that is full of heterocyclic amines is definitely NOT suitable for human consumption!

The thing is, we could lodge a complaint with the stall that sold us the packet (it was the outlet at Chinatown). But what they’ll probably do is exchange this with another packet and hope that we’ll walk away quietly. Who knows how many more packets of charred meat they would continue to sell to other innocent and unsuspecting customers?

So people, Chinese Singaporeans especially, the next time you buy your bak kwa (which should be pretty soon due to the Chinese New Year), please for heaven’s sake, double check that what you are getting is something that is actually safe to be eaten! You don’t want something that is gonna slowly poison your body, right? Warn your parents too!

Right now, we’re just gonna boycott Bee Cheng Hiang. Their bak kwa isn’t the best these days anyway.

Veron Ang