Chinese woman sold sugarcane drinks diluted with dirty water

An illegal street vendor has been detained in southern China after the costly “all natural” sugar cane juice she was selling was found to be mixed with filthy sugar water, with dead worms floating in it, according to a TV report.

The woman sold the juice from a cart on her tricycle in Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Shenzhen Television station reported.

She claimed each stick of her sugar cane could produce about five cups of “fresh, all natural” juice. Each cup was sold for eight yuan (US$1.27), considered pricey in the city, according to the report.

However, after urban management officials stopped the vendor for hygiene checks outside a school on March 26, they found a compartment covered by a wooden board under her juicing machine.

Under the board, officials discovered a 20-litre (5.3 gallon) styrofoam box filled with cloudy yellow water mixed with sugar. Several dead worms were floating in the liquid, the report said.