Aborted Babies are Being Sold For Food in Taiwan and China–Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
There are several versions of this eRumor. Some are regarding China. Others are regarding Taiwan. They all claim that aborted fetuses are being purchased for cooking and eating. Many of the eRumor emails include pictures of an Asian man who appears to be eating a barbecued baby.
The Truth:
These eRumors about babies being a delicacy in Taiwan or China are a hoax. The realistic looking pictures are of a controversial Chinese Artist from Shanghai named Zhu Yu. According to the Taipei Times newspaper, he has an artistic performance titled “Infatuation on Injuries.” A part of the presentation is a scene he calls “Man-Eater” during which he appears to be eating from a cooked human fetus. In his interview with the Taipei Times, he admitted that it is a real fetus that was stolen from a medical school and that he cooked himself.
A Malaysian tabloid paper titled Perdana published pictures of Zhu Yu’s performance but claimed they were from a Taiwanese restaurant that served the fetuses to customers. The article infuriated Taiwan, which does not condone eating human flesh, and the government demanded the paper print a retraction.
It should be pointed out that even though this story about fetuses being menu items and sold for food us not true, there are cultures, including Asian ones, that believe in magical powers of ingesting various unusual biological substances such as placentas, umbilical cords and stillborn or aborted fetuses.
Last updated 12/31/01