Online food safety jokes, Chinese air their dismay

Due to the constant bad news about quality and safety problems in their country, some Chinese netizens are taking out their frustration with sarcastic jokes on the Internet about these never-ending scandals.

The latest health scare saw thousands of Chinese babies falling ill with three babies dead after drinking contaminated milk formula. This prompted some Chinese to wonder if there is anything safe to use and to go online to say their frustrations.

Jokes from angry Chinese

A joke named “the lucky day of a Chinese’, takes a look at all the dangerous or unsanitary goods the average Chinese could run into on a daily basis.

"Get up early, clean your teeth with carcinogenic toothpaste, and drink a glass of expired milk with excess levels of iodine and contaminated with melamine," it starts. Melamine being the compound found tainting the baby milk powder.

Other food it suggested eating during the course of the day are eggs tainted with Sudan Red, a banned food colorant, eels fed on contraceptives and cabbage washed with DDT. These all referred to previous scandals in China.

Don't forget to miss out on pork from pigs which have died of disease, a particular problem in rural areas.

"What a great day!" the joke ends, sarcastically.

Over the past few years the safety of everything from Chinese-made car parts to toys to clothes and dumplings has been called into question, both at home and abroad, as have hygiene standards problem in the vast country.

Internet use has exploded in recent years but the government keeps a close tab on what appears, removing offensive comments or detaining those who criticize too much on certain sensitive topics, such as human rights.

But this hasn't stopped the online humor.

In another joke, a man goes into a local store to buy some bread, but discovers there is no expiry date written on the package. The sales clerk looks at the packet, and then gets a pen.” Don’t worry, let me write one on for you," he says.