Chinese authorities have opened an investigation into cooking oil shipments after a local media report alleged that fuel tankers had been used to carry edible oil without being cleaned, setting off the latest food safety scandal in the country.
An undercover video by state-backed Beijing News last week showed numerous fuel tanker trucks carried cooking oil, with one driver calling it an “open secret” in the industry that truckers didn’t clean their tanks when switching between hauling toxic and edible liquids.
“I haul sugar, honey, molasses, cooking oil, motor lubricant,” another driver said in the video. “I haul everything.” A third truck driver said he usually did not pay the Rmb400-500 ($55-69) to wash his truck’s tank before changing cargo.