China Vows Investigation Into Pills Said to Contain Human Remains
The New York Times, 8 May 2012
Chinese authorities are investigating disturbing reports that thousands of pills intercepted by South Korean border officials were manufactured in China to contain the desiccated powder remains of human babies, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
The English-language Korea Herald reported on Sunday that customs officials had intercepted more than 17,000 such pills in more than 30 smuggling attempts in luggage or through the mail since August, and said border controls were being strengthened.
The report said the pills were made from “dead human fetuses or infants from China,” though it was not clear how that determination was made. The Associated Press said they were made by drying out dead fetuses in an oven and smashing them into a powder. The reports said some in China and South Korea take pills with human remains believing that they can increase stamina.
Citing a spokesman for the Chinese Health Ministry, Xinhua said, “Medications made of human remains were not found in the country,” but police and customs agents would be conducting further investigations.
The spokesman “insisted that China has strict rules on the disposal of the remains of dead infants, aborted fetuses and placentas,” according to the report, which followed a day of disgusted reaction to articles in the South Korean media and online.
According to a South Korean television investigation from last year, cited by The Atlantic, similar pills were found to be made up nearly entirely of powdered human remains.
Apart from the macabre content intended for the pills, the South Korean authorities also said the smuggled capsules were dangerously contaminated. “Superbacteria and other viruses and bacteria which are harmful to the human body are detected in them,” Shin Eul-Gi, a South Korean inspection official at Incheon Airport, told Reuters in a report.
While the consumption of tissue from fetuses — if that is indeed what is occurring — has few public supporters, there have been some vocal advocates of eating the placenta, including in the United States.
The practice, known as placentophagy, was the subject of a lengthy article in New York magazine last year — “The Placenta Cookbook” — and recently received a celebrity endorsement from the actress and “Mad Men” star January Jones.
“I have a great doula who makes sure I’m eating well, with vitamins and teas, and with placenta capsulation,” she told People magazine in March, explaining that her placenta was dehydrated and made into pills. “It’s not witchcrafty or anything! I suggest it to all moms!”