Food fright

China | A Chinese dissident uncovers a plateful of horrors

Tainted, all of them: Big Bird, Elmo, Dora the Explorer, even Spongebob Squarepants. This month, the beloved characters became part of a 1.5-million worldwide recall of toys coated in lead paint and manufactured in China. Still, the recalls—of poisoned pet food or toothpaste in Panama—seem mild to what Chinese have to eat at home, and often unwittingly.

The world's wary eye on China's goods is drawing fresh attention to Zhou Qing, a Chinese dissident whose 2004 exposé of the local food industry now seems prescient. Zhou spent more than three years interviewing food manufacturers, farmers, tradesmen, and others, and compiling available articles and media reports. Along the way, he found manifold horrors: pickled vegetables preserved with insecticide, noodles contaminated with urine and saliva, restaurant meals laced with opiates.