漳州"泡药杨梅"事件：一颗水果背后的产业危机

五月的新闻。

a piece of news from May.

这个新闻，

This news

是关于一种水果的——

is about a kind of fruit —

杨梅。

yangmei (bayberry).

杨梅你吃过吗？

Have you eaten yangmei?

它是中国南方，

It's a fruit very characteristic

很有特色的一种水果。

of southern China.

红红的，

Red,

小小的，

small,

味道又甜又酸。

both sweet and sour in flavor.

每年五月到六月，

Every year from May to June

是杨梅最好的季节。

is yangmei's best season.

但是杨梅有一个特点，

But yangmei has one trait,

也是这次新闻的关键：

and it is the key to this news:

它不能放很久。

it cannot be kept long.

从树上摘下来以后，

After being picked from the tree,

两三天，

in two or three days

就开始变坏了。

it begins to go bad.

因为不能放久，

Because it cannot be kept,

卖杨梅就变得很难。

selling yangmei becomes very hard.

路远了，

If the road is long,

杨梅就坏了；

the yangmei is ruined;

卖不出去，

if it doesn't sell,

杨梅也坏了。

the yangmei is also ruined.

所以，

So

种杨梅的农民，

the farmers who grow yangmei

压力非常大。

are under enormous pressure.

他们一年，

For the whole year

就指望这几个星期。

they live off these few weeks.

好，

Alright,

背景说完了，

the background is done;

我们来看新闻。

let's look at the news.

五月十五号前后，

Around May 15,

中央电视台和很多媒体，

CCTV and many media outlets

报道了一件事。

reported a story.

事情发生在福建省，

It happened in Fujian Province,

漳州市的，

in Zhangzhou City's

龙海区。

Longhai District.

具体是两个镇：

Specifically two towns:

浮宫镇和白水镇。

Fugong Town and Baishui Town.

那里有几家，

There are several places there

做杨梅生意的地方。

in the yangmei business.

我们叫它们"收购点"。

We call them "procurement points."

"收购点"，

A "procurement point"

就是从农民那里，

is a middleman that, from farmers,

收杨梅，

buys yangmei

再卖出去的中间商。

and then sells it on.

媒体发现，

The media discovered

这些收购点，

that these procurement points

把杨梅，

took the yangmei

泡在了药水里。

and soaked it in a chemical liquid.

这里的"药水"，

The "chemical liquid" here

不是真的药。

was not actually medicine.

是两种，

It was two kinds

食品里的添加剂。

of food additives.

第一种，

The first

叫"脱氢乙酸钠"，

is called "dehydroacetic acid sodium" (脱氢乙酸钠),

是一种防腐剂——

a preservative —

让食物不容易坏。

something that keeps food from spoiling.

第二种，

The second

是一瓶甜味剂——

was a bottle of sweetener —

让东西吃起来更甜的化学品。

a chemical that makes things taste sweeter.

而且这瓶甜味剂，

And this bottle of sweetener

没有标签，

had no label,

没有生产日期，

no production date,

也没有合格证。

and no quality certificate.

媒体管这种叫，

Media call this kind of thing

"三无产品"。

a "three-no product" (三无产品).

按照国家的规定，

According to state regulations,

这两种添加剂，

both of these additives

都不可以，

are not allowed

用在新鲜的水果上。

to be used on fresh fruit.

所以，

So

这些收购点的做法，

what these procurement points did

是违法的。

was illegal.

新闻一出来，

As soon as the news came out,

官方反应非常快。

the authorities reacted very fast.

五月二十、

On May 20

二十一号，

and 21,

漳州市发布了，

Zhangzhou City issued

正式的通报。

an official notice.

通报里说：

The notice said:

查实的，

the confirmed

有问题的收购点，

problem procurement points

一共五家。

were five in all.

现场，

On site,

扣了 225 公斤问题杨梅，

225 kg of problem yangmei was seized,

还有 20 多公斤的添加剂。

along with more than 20 kg of additives.

又从市场上，

And from the market,

追回了 540 公斤。

540 kg was also recovered.

最后：

In the end:

立案了十二起，

twelve cases were filed,

五个人被刑事拘留。

five people were criminally detained.

"刑事拘留"，

"Criminal detention"

就是会进监狱的那种处理。

means the kind of handling that can land you in prison.

这件事，

This matter

处理得算很快。

was handled fairly quickly.

但是，

But

真正的麻烦，

the real trouble

才刚刚开始。

was just beginning.

新闻一出，

As soon as the news broke,

整个杨梅市场，

the whole yangmei market

就崩了。

collapsed.

那几天，

In those days,

全国的人都在说：

the whole country was saying:

"杨梅有问题。

"Yangmei has a problem.

"先不要买。

"Don't buy it for now.

你想，

Think about it —

这本来是杨梅，

this was supposed to be yangmei's

最赚钱的几个星期。

most profitable few weeks.

现在突然，

Now, suddenly,

没有人敢买。

no one dares to buy.

很多直播间，

Many livestream sellers

卖杨梅的，

of yangmei

被通知"违规销售"，

were notified of "illegal selling"

要给消费者退钱。

and had to refund consumers.

更让人难过的是：

What hurts more is this:

受影响的，

those affected

不只是漳州。

were not only Zhangzhou.

浙江也有很多杨梅。

Zhejiang also has lots of yangmei.

而且浙江的杨梅，

And Zhejiang yangmei

更有名，

is more famous,

也根本没有出过，

and had never had

这个问题。

this kind of problem at all.

但是消费者，

But consumers,

看到杨梅就害怕，

seeing yangmei, were afraid;

分不清，

they could not tell

哪一颗是漳州的，

which one was from Zhangzhou

哪一颗是浙江的。

and which from Zhejiang.

结果，

The result —

浙江的果农，

Zhejiang fruit farmers

也跟着卖不出去。

also could not sell.

五月二十三号，

On May 23,

有一个漳州的果农，

a Zhangzhou fruit farmer

在网上直播。

was livestreaming online.

他一边卖杨梅，

As he sold yangmei,

一边哭。

he cried.

他说，

He said

他家种了几十年杨梅，

his family had grown yangmei for decades

从来没有用过药水。

and had never used 药水 (chemical liquid).

但是因为这个新闻，

But because of this news,

他的杨梅，

all his yangmei

全部砸在手里。

was stuck in his hands.

这个视频，

This video

让很多人都难过。

made many people sad.

讲到这里，

Speaking of this,

我想说一个，

I want to share

我自己的想法。

a thought of my own.

这件事，

What this matter

最让人想问的是：

most makes one ask is:

为什么会发生？

why did it happen?

为什么收购点，

Why did the procurement points

要冒着风险，

take the risk

去用违法的添加剂？

to use illegal additives?

答案，

The answer,

其实和杨梅本身，

in fact, is related to yangmei

有关。

itself.

杨梅保质期，

Yangmei's shelf life

太短了。

is too short.

两三天就坏。

Two or three days and it's bad.

对收购点，

For procurement points

和运输的人来说，

and people who transport it,

这是一个，

this is

非常大的问题。

a huge problem.

违法的添加剂，

Illegal additives

可以让杨梅，

can let the yangmei

多放几天。

last a few more days.

钱，

And the money

也能多赚一点。

can be a bit more, too.

所以这种诱惑，

So this temptation

一直都在。

has always been there.

但是违法就是违法。

But illegal is illegal.

为了多赚几天的钱，

To earn a few more days' money

让消费者吃下不安全的东西，

by making consumers eat unsafe things —

是绝对不可以的。

that is absolutely not okay.

更重要的是，

More importantly,

这件事告诉我们：

this case teaches us:

做生意，

in business,

最值钱的东西，

the most valuable thing

不是货，

is not the goods —

是"信任"。

it's "trust."

一个市场的信任，

A market's trust,

建立起来，

to build it,

要很多年；

takes many years;

失去，

to lose it

可能只因为，

can take just

几个坏人。

a few bad people.

而且信任一旦没了，

And once trust is gone,

所有人都会受伤——

everyone is hurt —

包括那些，

including those

什么都没做错的人。

who did nothing wrong.

最后我想问你：

Finally I ask you:

你买东西的时候，

when you buy things,

你最在意的是什么？

what do you care about the most?

是便宜？

Is it cheap?

是好看？

Is it good-looking?

还是，

Or

你相不相信，

whether you trust

卖东西的人？

the one selling?

你想一想。

Think about it.

好。

Okay.

今天就说到这里。

That's all for today.

明天再聊。

Talk tomorrow.