Chinese officials identify strange thing in student’s meal as 'rat head'

The authorities in China have concluded that the strange object found in the school meal was 'a rat's head', overturning previous reassurances given officially that it was just a duck neck. The food safety scandal has for weeks gripped the nation and people's furore over the incident has exposed the increasing level of public distrust in the local governments of China, whose steps to block negative news has often faced backfire.

The controversy started on June 1, when something weird was discovered by a student in his dish at the school canteen at the Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College in the southeastern province of Jiangxi.

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Rat head not 'duck meat'

In the video shared on Chinese social media, the student is seen using chopsticks to pick up the dark hairy object and complaining to the canteen staff about finding a rat's head in the meal.

“This is duck meat,” replied a female staffer.“Isn’t this rat’s teeth?” the student stated while turning the object to show the tiny white pieces present in the middle and a part which appeared like a nose.

“This is duck meat, duck meat,” insisted the staffer. He added, “How could there be teeth in duck meat?”

The video shared on social media went viral and led to a stir in China, where food safety has been a major matter of public concern for a long time after scandals which involved contaminated baby milk powder and “gutter oil”, which is recycled oil tainted with sewage or food waste.

Regulations have been tightened by the Chinese authorities who have carried out periodic crackdowns.However, food safety scandals still continue to make headlines and ignite public outcries.

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The incident which occurred at the school canteen,led to heated discussions on social media platforms. Many users took the side of the student, citing the uncanny resemblance of the object to the head of a rodent, which seemed to have identifiable eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

In the wake of increasing public pressure, a statement was issued by the college on June 3, claiming that the object seen in the video is not the head of a rat, but a piece of duck neck, which remains a popular delicacy in China.

“Our investigation found that the video was indeed shot at our school canteen but its content does not match the facts,” the statement read.

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