Today's Briefing: Priced at 298 yuan but sold for 39.99 yuan! Livestream “aid-farming walnut oil” is actually fake oil; SAMR releases 13 rapid food testing methods; innovative pilot for food sampling inspection verification and handling advances in an orderly manner (September 29, 2026)

Priced at 298 yuan but sold for 39.99 yuan! Livestream “aid-farming walnut oil” is actually fake oil

CCTV exposed that livestreams, under the guise of “public-welfare aid to farmers”, sold “Yikoufu” walnut oil. The product claimed its only ingredient was walnuts, and a 5-jin pack with a suggested retail price of 298 yuan was sold for only 39.99 yuan, with tens of thousands of orders sold. A special sampling inspection of livestream e-commerce by the State Administration for Market Regulation found that the “Yikoufu” walnut oil on sale in the livestream involved had a measured palmitic acid content of 10.8%, exceeding the reference range of 2.2%~10.0% for walnut oil, suggesting possible adulteration with low-cost oils such as palm oil and soybean oil. Verification found that the claimed manufacturer, factory name and address, and production license number were all falsely labeled. After continuous monitoring, the Xinghua City Market Regulation Bureau in Jiangsu locked onto the seller, Sun, and a production den in a remote private house; on site, 2,660 liters of soybean oil, 5,128 empty bottles, more than 10,000 labels, and filling equipment were seized. Sun produced without a license, filling soybean oil to pass off as walnut oil, perilla seed oil and 2 other products, 4 products in total; through the middleman Gu, he connected with livestream hosts for sales, with hosts and middlemen taking commissions per order, completing 64,107 transactions in half a year and generating sales of more than 3.1 million yuan. The case is currently being investigated and handled in accordance with the law.

SAMR releases 13 rapid food testing methods

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation released 13 rapid food testing methods, which can rapidly screen 18 risk substances in total, including pesticide residues such as triazophos, chlorothalonil and thiamethoxam in vegetables and fruits; hormone and anti-inflammatory drug residues such as dexamethasone, metamizole and flunixin in livestock and poultry meat and dairy products; and antibiotic residues such as chloramphenicol and streptomycin in honey and aquatic products. Compared with laboratory testing, rapid testing methods are simpler to operate and take less time, and can be used for on-site rapid testing at wholesale markets for agricultural products, supermarkets and catering units, enabling early discovery and early warning of food safety risks.

Innovative pilot for food sampling inspection verification and handling advances in an orderly manner

At the beginning of this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation selected some provinces to carry out an innovative pilot for food sampling inspection verification and handling, sorting out 9 innovative pilot items, with each pilot province organizing practice and exploration, while the Administration researched and summarized replicable experience. At present, the pilots in Jiangxi and Shandong have achieved phased results. Among them, Jiangxi has built a closed-loop system linking supervision and inspection, clarified the responsibilities of three levels of supervision, promoted the linkage between administrative and criminal enforcement and between administrative and disciplinary enforcement, and relied on a digital-intelligence platform to achieve automatic risk identification and full-process tracking. Shandong innovated a classified and tiered verification and handling mechanism, dividing problems found in sampling into five major categories and applying category-specific measures: low-risk enterprises rectify immediately upon detection, clues involving crimes are transferred to public security, and regional risks trigger special rectification campaigns. After evaluating the results, the Administration will roll out the practices nationwide in batches.

SAMR solidly carries out technical assistance for food sampling inspection verification and handling

Since 2026, the SAMR has carried out 11,661 instances of technical assistance for food sampling inspection verification and handling, assisting 8,638 food enterprises, with follow-up sampling inspections on 4,927 assisted enterprises, of which 4,713 were no longer found non-compliant, giving an assistance effectiveness rate of 95.66%. The Administration organized technical forces to go deep into enterprises to investigate causes, improve processes and build systems, pushing supervision to extend from post-hoc punishment to source governance. Among them, Tongxu County in Henan implemented “one policy per enterprise” for the sour and spicy noodle industry, promoting a new alum-free noodle-making process; Hubei focused on the Wuchang fish industry, formulating 7 group standards and building a testing center to provide free testing, with the annual output value of the whole industrial chain reaching 5 billion yuan. Next, the Administration will concentrate assistance efforts on enterprises and regions with frequent non-compliance.

New results achieved in distinctive research on “tropical fruits and vegetables”

Relying on the Key Laboratory of the State Administration for Market Regulation (Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Quality and Safety) built at the Hainan Provincial Institute of Inspection and Testing, targeted research was carried out on tropical fruits and vegetables such as bananas and lychees, achieving phased results. In terms of risk screening, methods were established for multi-residue screening of 405 pesticides, the QuEChERS method for 503 pesticides, and simultaneous detection of 44 mycotoxins, overcoming complex matrix interference and increasing detection efficiency by 5 to 10 times, with more than 2,000 batches of samples screened. In terms of green preservation, a technical chain of “material development—process optimization—integrated application” was built, and microbial composite antibacterial coating agents, slow-release ozone ice and chlorine dioxide preservation cards were developed to extend the shelf life of wax apples, lychees and longans and enable real-time monitoring. In terms of achievement transformation, it participated in the formulation of 11 agricultural product standards including “Cherry Tomato”, and the slow-release ozone ice technology has been applied to pre-cooling and preservation of lychees for e-commerce in 2025 to 2026, helping the industrialization of Hainan's distinctive agricultural products.

National edible agricultural product market prices rose 1.2% month-on-month in August

Commerce big data shows that in August, national edible agricultural product market prices rose 1.2% month-on-month. By major variety, the average wholesale price of grain in 36 large and medium-sized cities was flat compared with the previous month and down 0.8% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of edible oil fell 0.1% month-on-month and 1.8% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of pork rose 3.1% month-on-month and fell 14.8% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of beef rose 1.1% month-on-month and 4.4% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of mutton rose 0.1% month-on-month and 6.6% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of eggs rose 4.5% month-on-month and 34.2% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of dressed chicken was flat compared with the previous month and up 3.9% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of 30 kinds of vegetables rose 3.7% month-on-month and fell 3.7% year-on-year. The average wholesale price of 6 kinds of fruits fell 2.9% month-on-month and 5.2% year-on-year.

Caution! Imported instant bird's nest drink illegally contains sweeteners

On September 29, Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration released a list of non-compliant foods at border inspection, showing that a batch of instant bird's nest drink (rock sugar flavor) from Thailand was found to contain sweetener levels not in compliance with regulations. The notification shows that the Thai manufacturer or exporter is named PORNPRASERT RUNGNOKTHAI COMPANY LIMITED, and the importer in the Taiwan region is Xiangyan Trading Co., Ltd. A total of 4,991.00 kg of non-compliant products were all returned or destroyed. Foodmate.net reminds domestic importing enterprises to pay close attention to the relevant information and avoid importing non-compliant products.

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