‘Human teeth’ found in dim sum, sausages in China, sparks outrage over food safety

Widespread outrage and shock followed after multiple incidents of ‘human teeth’ being found in food items surfaced in China. The reports have caused public concerns about food safety.

A woman in the Jilin Province (northeastern region) reported on October 13 that she found 3 cojoined artificial human teeth inside a sausage she bought for her kid, South China Morning Post reported. She had bought the grilled sausage from an outdoor stall. The vendor initially denied that the teeth were present in the sausage at the time of sale.

However, after local market supervision authorities intervened, the vendor apologised.

On the very same day, another woman from the Donguan City in the southern Guangdong province revealed that her father discovered two human teeth inside his dim sum, which he got from Sanjin Soup Dumplings. The woman said that the teeth did not belong to her father.

The restaurant said that their dumplings were sourced from the company's central facility, and they could not explain how the teeth appeared in the dish.

A day later, at a Sam’s Club outlet in Shanghai, another customer said that she found an artificial human tooth with a screw embedded in her jujube and walnut cake.

Sam’s Club has over 50 branches in over 20 Chinese cities and is regarded as a company that supplies high-quality food.

The cake costs about $4 for a 520-gram box. The customer had taken her dessert back to the store to make a formal complaint. The management at the store offered her $140 as compensation, which she refused.

Shanghai Pudong New District’s market supervision department has launched an investigation.

This is not the first time artificial human teeth have been found in food in China. In 2022, a woman reported that her uncle discovered 3 teeth inside a Sam Club’s signature Swiss roll from the Fujian province.

The cases have created widespread outrage, and Chinese netizens expressed their concerns regarding human remains being found in food. One user on the Chinese platform Weibo said, “I hope it's not a horror story of mixing human meat into the ingredients.” Others said that the teeth could have been lost by factory workers who dealt with the handling of the items.

Previous incidents have ended with customers being compensated by the food sellers and with no investigation results authorities.

World