A third of the Lunar New Year delicacy nostoc available on the market has been found to be counterfeit, a study has found, and eating real nostoc also has its risks.
The environmental pressure group Green Council commissioned Chinese University to test 41 samples of nostoc bought from retail outlets in December.
The blue-green algae, harvested mainly in the north and west of the mainland, is popular in Chinese cuisine, especially during the Lunar New Year, because its Chinese name sounds like fat choi, Cantonese for prosperity. The study found the main ingredient of 14 of the samples tested was starch.
'There is a risk eating counterfeit nostoc as it is not known what dyes or contaminated matter were added during production,' said Paul But Pui-hay, a biology professor at the university. 'The hygiene problem of factories in which nostoc is produced is a concern.'
Professor But warned consumers that eating real nostoc was also not good for the health because the plant contained an amino acid called BMAA that damaged nerve cells and could cause dementia.
'Some reports published by Canadian medical experts have suggested BMAA is harmful to our nervous system,' he said. 'It causes dysfunction or damage to our nerve cells, and has been found to be related to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Whether it is real or fake nostoc, it does no good to eat it.'