Response From Chinese Government
On July 18, 2007 Chinese law enforcement officials reported that they had detained Zi Beijia (訾北佳), a local reporter, for allegedly faking the news report. Zi, using the alias Hu Yue (胡月), is believed to have hired four migrant workers to make the cardboard-buns as he filmed. BTV 7 apologized, saying it was "profoundly sorry" for the deception and its "vile impact on society." Beijing's health authorities reported finding no evidence of cardboard in local buns. Furthermore the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office found that even if baozis are filled with a five percent mixture of cardboard "the fiber substance can be easily seen, and the meat buns made this way could not be easily chewed." Some individuals in China and abroad continue to believe that the scandal was not a hoax, and the Chinese government proclaimed it such merely to assuage a horrified public.
On August 12, 2007, Zi was sentenced to a year in jail and a fine of $132.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Cardboard Bun Hoax
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