36 restaurants in China were caught putting poppy capsules in their food.  What, sugar salt and fat aren’t good enough for them?

Technically these are not Chinese restaurants, they’re restaurants in China, which makes them… Chinese restaurants… no? I mean they’re not French restaurants in China., although I imagine there are such. Whatever.

The kicker for me is the history lesson at the end of the article.

China has a long and complicated history with the opium poppy. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Qing emperors issued orders to try to ban the import of opium. Britain, the main exporter to China, fought two wars with the Qing in the 19th century to keep the trade flowing.

In the early 20th century, Britain agreed to end exports to China, and Chinese rulers vowed to halt domestic production. But opium became widespread again after the fall of the Qing Empire, and opium taxes became a source of revenue for warlords, provincial governments and leaders of the warring Kuomintang and Communist parties.

Wikipedia much?  Did this article really merit going back a couple hundred years for background? Amazed it didn’t link to the search for General Tso.