In the Sichuan-Chongqing region, the popular snack “Pickled Pepper Chicken Feet” has been selling like hotcakes, often with sales breaking ten thousand. However, some unscrupulous manufacturers have been using industrial-grade chemical “hydrogen peroxide” for bleaching in order to make the products look more appealing. Workers in the industry have expressed their concerns, saying, “I dare not eat it at all!”
According to reports from CCTV, a production workshop of Mingyang Food Processing Co., which is responsible for the preliminary processing of chicken feet products for the “Shufu Xiang” food company in Chengdu, was discovered to have a strong foul odor in the pickling area, trimming area, and selection area, making people feel nauseated. The workshop floor was covered with stagnant murky water, with a large number of chicken feet being casually piled on dirty floors, and cleaning tools such as brooms and shovels were placed on top of the chicken feet. Even if workers stepped on the chicken feet, they would just pick them up and put them back in the processing basket for continued use, and the production machinery was covered in thick stains and grease.
Workers in the production workshop also revealed that industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide was used for bleaching during the processing of chicken feet, and the soaking area is located in the Shufu Xiang Food Co., Ltd.
It was reported that there were more than ten unmarked blue plastic barrels stacked on a cart in the factory of the Shufu Xiang Food company, each barrel containing about 50 pounds of liquid. Factory workers admitted that the chicken feet were bleached with hydrogen peroxide to appear so white. Some workers even said, “We never eat it ourselves and we advise you not to eat it either.”
Hydrogen peroxide is commonly used as a strong oxidizing agent and disinfectant for sterilization. However, when used for soaking food, it can destroy nutritional components such as proteins in the food, covering up signs of decay. Prolonged consumption can lead to damage to the oral mucosa and liver and kidney function, and overdosing can even be life-threatening. According to regulations, the use of hydrogen peroxide is prohibited during the processing of chicken feet.
However, it is not just this company that uses hydrogen peroxide to soak chicken feet. Qingyuan Food Co., Ltd. in Chongqing was also found with a large quantity of blue packaged barrels for recycling, labeled prominently with “hydrogen peroxide”. Internal staff from the company confirmed that the chicken feet here were indeed “bleached” with hydrogen peroxide.
Furthermore, some vendors in the Haibawang Frozen Product Market in the southwest region have also indicated that they use hydrogen peroxide for “bleaching” treatment of semi-processed chicken feet that they sell.
According to investigations, the hydrogen peroxide mainly comes from companies such as “Jinshan Pharmaceuticals” in Meishan City, Sichuan, and “Yifeng Electronic New Materials” in Xinxiang, Henan. In these companies, these chemicals that should be strictly controlled are sold indiscriminately. Salespeople from Yifeng even actively encouraged clients to label the products as “disinfectants” to evade supervision.
Recently, 27 barrels of hydrogen peroxide were found in the Shufu Xiang factory, and 551 boxes of problematic chicken feet were seized. Company personnel admitted that since May 2025, they had accumulated 5,242 barrels of hydrogen peroxide from Jinshan Pharmaceuticals for chicken feet processing and equipment disinfection; Qingyuan Food was found with 4 unsealed barrels of hydrogen peroxide and 1 opened barrel.
Currently, the companies involved and their upstream suppliers are under investigation.