UPDATE: Experts in Chinese medicine conclude the seahorses are real
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After a woman in Miaoli County said that the seahorses inside bottles of medicinal drinks she had been consuming for more than 10 years were actually made of plastic, experts analyzing the ingredients came to the opposite conclusion, reports said Wednesday (June 5).
Liu Hsueh-mei (劉雪梅), a member of Shitan township council, spent NT$8,000 (US$247) on dried seahorses, turtle shells, and caterpillar fungus at a stall in Taichung, the Liberty Times reported. The vendor told her that if Liu soaked the supposed animal products in alcohol, they would turn into a fortifying potion against ailments during winter.
She consumed the drink for more than 10 years, also using it as a sauce for mutton and duck dishes. However, when she recently cleaned the bottle, which was still half full, she noticed the animal products inside had not changed since a decade ago.
The ingredients had not softened, and when she held a lighter to them, she could smell plastic, per CNA. Liu said she had heard of counterfeit Chinese medicine being sold, but because she had bought the seahorses at a popular tourist spot she thought they would be genuine.
However, after the story surfaced in the media, representatives from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and of traditional Chinese medicine industry associations in Taichung and Miaoli visited Liu Wednesday to inspect the items. They concluded that the seahorses and the other ingredients were not made of plastic at all, per the Liberty Times.
Keeping the Chinese medicine in the liquid for years had hardened them, and the presence of proteins was responsible for their plastic look and smell, the experts said. They ascribed the misunderstanding to the public’s general lack of knowledge about exotic ingredients like the seahorses.
