On August 22, 2026, blogger @渔猎齐哥 posted a video: In Zhangjiakou, Hebei, he randomly picked three trailers loaded with Chinese cabbage from the roadside and found that each one had been dipped in formaldehyde solution.
In the video, workers dipped each cabbage into the formaldehyde solution once during loading to keep it fresh for two to three more days.
The problem is: people eating such cabbage will get cancer.
After that, @渔猎齐哥 also detected formaldehyde in Chinese cabbage in a market in Hefei, Anhui, with the source also from Hebei. The full exposé video (6 minutes and 40 seconds) is as follows:
Just now, the Kangbao County government in Hebei also responded, saying: The situation is true.
I want to specifically introduce a basic fact here: formaldehyde cabbage is not a new thing.
As early as 2012, Shandong exposed news of spraying Chinese cabbage with formaldehyde, and Guangzhou also found more than 120 tons of formaldehyde cabbage from Shandong and Yunnan. CCTV news reports stated that formaldehyde cabbage came from seven provinces. Last year, formaldehyde cabbage was also found in the vegetable wholesale market in Dingzhou, Hebei.
For more than ten years, formaldehyde cabbage has been present, almost becoming a “traditional skill” in the vegetable industry.
Everyone knows it causes cancer, as formaldehyde is a well-known Group 1 carcinogen, yet formaldehyde cabbage flows unimpeded across provinces and cities.
It wasn’t until today that an outside self-media blogger, an “outsider,” exposed it again through random roadside investigations.
The trajectory of this incident is almost identical to the recent “poisonous bayberries.” As early as 15 years ago in 2011, poisonous bayberries were detected in random checks and warnings were issued, but as late as 2026, reporters still found widespread use of additives in bayberries during random investigations at collection points.
Are we destined to live surrounded by toxic food? Are we destined to constantly invest time in learning all sorts of food identification expertise to become food safety experts?
I paid attention to @渔猎齐哥 last year. The blogger’s “rise to fame” experience itself is very indicative of the current social ills.
His hometown is Wuhan. Originally, he was just an ordinary “fishing enthusiast.” While fishing, he noticed that there were often various kinds of garbage by the river, so he began to organize volunteers to pick up trash along the Yangtze River.
While picking up trash, he once found a 12-year-old bag containing many bank cards. After reporting it to the police, it became a trending topic, and slowly, the trash-picking activities he initiated gained traction.
After that, when fans told him about large-scale garbage in a certain place, he would rush to investigate on-site, then report it, and simultaneously make a video and post it online.
The places he has visited include Xiaozihui River in Nanchuan, Chongqing; Beige Town, Taiyuan; Xiangshui Cave, Qianxi; Jishan River, Heze; Heishui River, Yunmeng; JiShui Underground River, Jishou; Heishui River, Huaibei; Heishui River, Guanghan Industrial Zone; Lieyu Garbage Mountain; Dongting Creek Garbage; Shenshui River, Ganzhou; Nihe River, Xinyang; Mohhekou, Bengbu; Changtan River, Cili; Zijiang River; Leping; Chenjiawan Black Spring…
The ecological impact of the garbage in these places is very severe. Through his exposé-style reporting, dozens of pollution problems have been resolved in two to three years, and his followers have grown to three to four million.
The most ironic aspect of this matter is: what @渔猎齐哥 exposes are all very serious, visually apparent pollutions. So why did the “relevant departments” living locally for years turn a blind eye, deaf ear, and take no action before his arrival?
Why did the entire local system fail? To what extent has the public welfare been disregarded? Anyone with a modicum of conscience cannot accept this.
“Their salaries and benefits are the people’s fat and blood.” Where have all those layers of financial resources and funds been consumed? It is precisely because there are too many people who hold office but do no work that a self-media blogger who does the most ordinary thing can shine so brightly.
Including the formaldehyde cabbage issue this time, @渔猎齐哥 merely filmed randomly by the roadside and obtained “explosive news” that shook public opinion.
Where is the toxicity of formaldehyde cabbage? It is toxic because formaldehyde causes cancer, and even more toxic is the systemic turning of a blind eye and indifference that allows it to circulate and be sold openly in the market for years.
I am a speaker, a public writer, and I have always held a view: contemporary China is a super rich source of news. Grab a hoe and dig anywhere, and you’ll find blockbuster treasures. For example, regarding formaldehyde, eight years ago I organized “900 Stories of Formaldehyde Rooms,” and the stories in those rental rooms were heartbreaking.
Over the years, I have always found it incredible and frightening: what I write on YouYouLuMing is merely what an ordinary person sees in daily life, not grand or spectacular; what I discuss is just common sense, not earth-shattering; what I adhere to is simply writing as honestly and truthfully as possible, and speaking human language. Most of the time, it’s just a cry of indignation when encountering injustice, without much planning. Pushing forward an inch each day brings an inch of joy, it’s that simple. As a result, such simple writing and expression, over more than ten years, have become extremely rare articles on the market, and I have been fortunate to receive the support of many readers.
This should not be the case. I always feel that @渔猎齐哥 and expressers like me should not exist.
If one day, @渔猎齐哥 can leisurely go back to being a fishing enthusiast, and I can peacefully return to my hometown to farm and read. That would be a wonderful future.
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