(Ecns.cn) –Folk legend has it that the color of a certain bird's nest is red because the birds secrete blood into it, making it worth a "thousand pieces of gold." But recently excessive amounts of chemical nitrite found in "red" cubilose – the secretion used in edible bird nest products – proved that so-called natural cave nests had in fact been dyed to look red. The products were all allegedly processed in Malaysia.
On August 16, 2011, the Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce found that over 30,000 cups of unqualified blood-red cubilose contained high levels of nitrite, some even 350 times the legal standard.
At a press conference, the Zhejiang authority said that the amount of nitrite, a carcinogenic industrial chemical, was "gravely above the permitted standard" and might pose large threats to consumer health.
In quick response, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce urged authorities to step up checks on bird nest products. The cubilose industry has since plummeted; all famous domestic brands have been affected.
The storm also swept through the manufacturing home of blood-red cubilose, Southeast Asia. According to a member of a Malaysian cubilose dealers' association, the price of blood bird nests had fallen from 11,000 yuan ($1,700) to about 9,000 yuan ($1,391) per kilogram.
Jack Lee, director general of the China branch of the Indonesian Bird's Nest Association, said the downtrend in cubilose prices was also immediately seen in Indonesia. In a week's time, the price of raw materials for bird nest products fell by more than 20% as the market recoiled.
An imported lie?
After Zhejiang's quality watchdog found that the so-called red cubilose was counterfeit, its investigation revealed that the products were all imported from Malaysia.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture of Malaysia said the country's swiftlet industry does not produce the so-called blood bird's nest, and all bird nests produced in Malaysia are white in color. Red cubilose, which is considered the rarest variety, comes from nests built on rock cliffs. There, mineral elements – mostly iron – permeate into the nests and give them their red color.
According to Ma Xingsong, chairman of the Malaysian Cubilose Dealers' Association, the red bird's nests can be found only in caves whose walls are red due to natural elements.
"A natural red bird's nest is very rare and cannot be put into mass production," said a member of the Malaysian Cubilose Dealers' Association, who asked to remain anonymous. He revealed that Malaysia produces about 600 tons of house nests and 10 tons of cave nests every year, but very few of the cave nests are red in color.
"The cubilose products with excessive nitrite content are not made of natural cave nests, but are cultured house nests," he said, indicating that a large number of red blood bird nests on the market are fakes.
