Warning about pork

[cdn_in_bj]

The price of pork on the markets has doubled lately and I am starting to notice the effects of this when eating out at restaurants (in Beijing). Specifically, I've noticed restaurants cutting back on portions or even worse, using pork that isn't fresh (got a stinky taste). The first time it happened to me I didn't think much of it, but the second time it clicked in.

Perhaps it is best to avoid pork for the next little while when eating out. If you do encounter bad pork, send the dish back immediately and tell them why. And also demand that they don't charge you for the dish.

[liuzhou]

My friendly local restaurant refused to serve me pork the other day, as it was "too expensive"

The rises are mainly in response to a disease which is killing millions of pigs.

See here.

[heifeng]

Pork prices have actually gone down slightly now...but restaurant prices are going up ~~and not just on pork! Eggs and other veggies are way up, especially red bell peppers.

Proof (from heifeng's 'hood)

-street stall jidan guanbing 1.30 up from 1.00

-a local chengdu xiao chi one 'long' of steamed xiaolong bao or dumplings 3.50 up from 3.00

-baozi store on the street. rou baozi have slowly crept up from .5 to .7 over the past few months (when 1 place crept up to .6 people abandoned it for the .5 places) but now some places are up to .7 in May!

All this extra mao or two is really making me dig for more change now....PLUS even though the places are charging more, I agree that the quality is sliding....(in fact after I read this post I realized any pork dish I was eating seemed even saltier than usual...but maybe I'm just being paranoid)

[cdn_in_bj]

Once they go up, it'll be hard for them to go back.

This is inflation in action folks. Fascinating stuff!

[heifeng]

add to inflation list:

bottled 500ml drinks are creeping up from 3 yuan in those tiny liquor stores....(especially diet coke and wulong tea) and it's really becoming irritating too. I mean 3 yuan is already pushing it, but once i'ts 3.5 you might as well go to a big store to save a whole 1 yuan!

[chenpv]

And laowais should worry less about poisonous pork if they purchase these from local supermarket, though, at a even higher price I suppose?

[Socks]

The pork disease that is currently going around is something called blue ear, and has been killing pork for a couple of months, which is why the prices have gone up. It's not really known whether or not eating meat from animals that have died from this illness is bad or not, but I can't imagine that you're getting good meat from these animals whose organs and insides have started to bleed.