In this era of bird flu, diplomatic tensions, Asian arms races and such sometimes you have to take a moment to focus on what's truly important. Like nasty parasite eggs in your pickled cabbage.

There is nothing Imagethief likes better than a spicy Korean meal with a big dollop of fiery kimchi (or kimchee as we call it in the US) on the side. Beijing is lousy with Koreans and Korean restaurants, especially in the Northwestern district where I used to live, so this hasn't been hard to find. But now I find another one of life's innocent little pleasures destroyed. First I had to stop snorting crank, and now this. Is nothing sacred?

What's interesting is how this has unfolded as a tit for tat scandal between Korean and China, with everyone's Kimchi coming out looking bad. The Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper (English web edition) is the vehicle for this story:
October 21:
Parasites found in Chinese kimchi
Chinese-made kimchi has been found to be contaminated with parasites, in a fresh scare only weeks after kimchi from the country was found to have comparatively high lead content.

***

According to the KFDA, the Chinese imports contained the eggs of four parasites -- roundworm, hookworm, trichostrougylus orientalis and isospora bellis. They are presumed to have been contaminated by the night soil used as fertilizer on many Chinese farms.

Parasites breed in human excrement and soil and can be transmitted via farm produce. They can cause vomiting, stomachache, indigestion and bowel disorder.

Shock horror. Another Chinese food scandal. Have these people no shame? And, by the way, yuck.

November 1:
China hits back in kimchi farce
China is retaliating for a Korean freeze of some kimchi imports from the country over a parasite scare, avenging its tainted honor by a blanket ban on products it does not even import, local manufacturers and authorities say.
That's right. Don't take it sitting down. Show those arrogant Korean weenies who's boss. And scrap all those new, Hyundai Beijing taxis.
November 3:
Korean Kimchi in parasite shock
The Korea Food and Drug Administration on Thursday confirmed Chinese claims that some Korean-made kimchi are infested with parasites. Mostly made by small manufacturers, the brands have been sold in department stores, hotels and via home shopping channels, and also exported to Japan. The find hits a doubly sensitive spot because it could damage the reputation of a Korean signature dish for whose healthful properties large claims have been made and comes hard on the heels of domestic warnings of parasites in Chinese-made kimchi.
The comeuppance. How humiliating. But wait...the Koreans aren't down for the count yet:
November 3:
China, Japan unfazed by parasites in Korean kimchi
China and Japan were unruffled Thursday by a revelation that has shaken Korea’s national confidence to the core -- the discovery of parasite eggs in some domestic brands of the ultimate Korean side-dish kimchi.

In case of China, the state-controlled Chinanews.com current affairs site summed up Korean media coverage in a three-line brief, reporting that the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) admitted the find after earlier detecting parasites in Chinese kimchi brands.

No one cares about our parasite eggs. Take that!

Lost in all of this is whether said eggs are dangerous, or just nasty. All processed foods have insect parts in them, and pickled foods are especially notorious. Granted, eggs from parasitic hookworms aren't exactly "insects", but given that they are in kimchi, might they be, well, pickled, and therefore not viable? Not that I want my kimchi being made from cabbage grown in human excrement, but we living here in China make many mental trade-offs whenever we buy vegetables. Or any food for that matter. Or when we breathe. Or cross the street.

Nevertheless, I'll never look at my little tray of kimchi the same way again. Sigh.