Chinese Counterfeit Eggs Made of Plastic May Be Popping Up in Thailand

In America, an unprecedented outbreak of avian flu may have caused egg prices to rise amid mass shortages, but the people of Thailand are reckoning with an entirely different, egg-related problem: Somebody is allegedly trying to sell them fake eggs made of plastic. And those eggs are thought to be coming from China.

Thai officials are being called to investigate the possibility of counterfeit eggs made of plastic entering the market after fifty-nine-year-old Mrs. Lek Jaikla, reported buying a fake egg in her local market.

Mrs. Lek told reporters that she was shocked to find that one of the eggs she bought from a flea market in Tambon Noong E-roon started burning and emitting a plastic-like smell when cooked. The fraudulent egg was one of ten contained in a plastic bag that Mrs. Lek obtained for 35 baht, or a little under one American dollar.

Locals who learned about the discovery of the fake egg urged authorities to try to find out where it came from. Pongsak Khunsawasdi, a local grocer, disclaimed responsibility. She said she bought her eggs straight from a poultry farm and didn't sell eggs "put in plastic bags like those sold at the flea market."

But stories of faux oeufs have been circulating in Thailand: Mrs. Lek said that she heard about fake eggs on the television, but had never seen one before she inadvertently made the purchase.

The origin of the eggs, at least according to urban legend, is China. For years, stories of fake Chinese eggs—ones that look surprisingly like real ones—have been rampant. According to some reports, they are made of gypsum powder, calcium carbonate and wax. Rumors of fake Chinese eggs date back to the 1990s. In case you were wondering how to tell a fake egg from a real one, experts say that fake eggs have thinner yolks and whites.

Food forgery is a problem of near-epidemic proportions, particularly in China, and it's certainly not restricted to eggs. Even the life-giving staple that is rice isn't safe from counterfeit claims. Almost every Asian nation has had its own fake rice scare, despite little if any evidence to back up the claims.

As far as eggs go, a Fuji TV investigation that has over almost 1.5 million views on YouTube claims that the allegations of an underground criminal marketplace in fake eggs in China is 100 percent true. Others say, "claims about a well-organized and widespread fake egg market in China seem dubious." But given China's acknowledgement that its food safety and food fraud situation needs a serious overhaul, the fake egg stories may very well be true.

Mrs. Lek is pretty certain she bought some fake Chinese eggs—and that the problem has now spread to Thailand.