In and around Shanghai, low-quality durians from other countries are being disguised as premium-grade fruit from Thailand to deceive shoppers. Alongkorn Ponlaboot, an adviser to Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on, said the Minister has spoken to agricultural attachés in China, urging them to conduct an urgent investigation after a video clip went viral in China on why Thai durians sold on a roadside in Shanghai were not delicious and appeared to be of poor quality.
The clip was posted on YouTube by a Thai woman living in Shanghai on Saturday. The woman was seen in the clip asking the vendors whether the durians came from Thailand and the vendor confirmed it.
According to Alongkorn, mobile vendors drive their trucks around to sell durians on the roadside, selling poor-grade durians from Thailand’s neighbours. He said such mobile vendors normally sold low-quality durians on the outskirts of Chinese cities to avoid being checked by the officials and they mostly sold durians that failed to meet quality standards.
Source: nationmultimedia.com