Is China fighting a war on cheese?
China is deploying trained sniffer beagles at major airports to track down chunks of cheese packed in luggage, according to anecdotal reports from passengers.
The Website of respected U.S. magazine Atlantic has detailed several accounts of what it says could be an “anti-cheese crackdown” at Chinese ports of entry.
Under the headline “The War Against Cheese,” Beijing-based correspondent James Fallows quotes a China-based blog writer describing his experienced of having his cheese confiscated.
“I too encountered the beagle brigade,” says James Glucksman, describing his return to China after a trip to Spain where he bought ham, chorizo, a wheel of cheese (Manchego?) and some turron nougat.
“Having never seen them before we weren’t sure if they were after drugs or food, but when one came to our cart as we waited for our luggage at the carousel and sat down, we knew it was a ‘food beagle’.
“The agent asked us if we had food, to which I ventured a meek ‘yes, a bit’, and he asked to see our bag,” he said.
“The agent confiscated the cheese without a word of explanation, and then asked if there was anything else. We volunteered the turron, but that was not an issue…” Click here for Glucksman’s blog
Glucksman said a Chinese onlooker later explained there was a ban on importing dairy goods into China, but he adds, the reason behind it remains a “mystery.” Click here for Fallows’ article.
Fallows goes on to speculate that the apparent ban could be linked to China’s own recent tainted dairy produce scandal, in which hundreds of thousands of children were sickened by tainted formula milk, although he notes such a move would “make no sense at all.”
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