context: The bayberry scare is more than a food safety case in one growing area. It points to weak spots in the PRC fresh fruit trade. Small farms, scattered buying, short shelf life and high waste have pushed some traders to cut corners with banned additives. As shoppers ask for both freshness and safety, the market will lean more towards fruit that can be tested, traced and moved through cold chain.
Several bayberry buying sites in Zhangzhou, Fujian were recently found soaking fruit in preservatives and using unlabelled sweeteners. The case raised food safety fears. Local authorities later said they had seized 225 kg of tainted bayberries, recalled 540 kg of fruit, and seized 20.1 kg of banned additives. The fruit and additives have been destroyed.
The shock soon hit the bayberry market. Buyers became more wary, and prices fell in some growing areas. The farmgate price of premium Dongkui bayberries dropped from about C¥20 per jin to C¥5–6 (1 jin = 0.6 kg). Some traders stopped buying, as wholesalers found it hard to tell safe fruit from risky fruit. Food safety risk and slow sales risk rose at the same time.
Bayberries bruise easily and have a short shelf life. Picking, cold chain and fast sales all matter. When margins are thin and waste is high, some traders may pick fruit early, soak it to keep it fresh or add sweeteners to mask poor taste.
That crosses a food safety line. The additive used in the case, sodium dehydroacetate, is not allowed in fresh fruit. Under GB 2760–2024, fresh fruit must not use this kind of preservative. Li Xian 李鲜 Zhejiang University Institute of Fruit Science head, said fresh bayberries cannot use any preservative or artificial sweetener, let alone unlabelled additives.
Tong Wei 佟伟 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Research Institute of Pomology senior agronomist, also said bayberries may use only very small amounts of lawful preservative before picking, and the dose must be tightly managed. Non-specialists would find it hard to use safely. Traders used sodium dehydroacetate because it has no smell and is hard to spot.
The case also shows weak points in the bayberry chain. The PRC is the world’s largest bayberry grower. Output spans east, south, central and south-west China, with the main season running from April to July. But many growing areas still rely on small farms, scattered buying and mobile traders. Fruit moves from farmers to buying points, then to wholesale markets and shops. With so many steps, blame is easy to blur and risks are harder to trace.
Large fruit dealers and branded channels now matter more. Some firms have brought in pre-harvest tests, warehouse quick checks, batch sampling, cold chain and same-day selling to hold up quality. Some channels ask suppliers to test for pesticide residues and heavy metals before picking. They run batch checks when fruit enters the warehouse, then test again by risk grade. Pre-cooling, low-temperature transport and fast sales help cut reliance on chemical preservatives.
Tong said bayberry preservation need not rely on additives. Protected growing, pre-cooling at origin, low-temperature storage and cold chain can now stretch shelf life to three–seven days. The catch is cost. These methods need spending, stable orders and better-run channels. Fruit outside branded supply chains still makes up much of the market, and is more exposed to price swings and grey-market practices.
Zhangzhou has said it will bring in sales only after testing, commitment certificates, reporting rules for outbound shipments, and a blacklist for buyers. It will also step up checks from buying and storage through to sales. The main point is clear. Fresh fruit safety cannot rest on end-point tests alone. The duty must move upstream, into growing areas, buying sites and trade flows.