Internet users were horrified to find photographic evidence that showed seafood vendors in Wuhan, China scavenging discarded shrimp and fish from the city’s sewers to serve to unsuspecting customers.

According to Shanghai List, it is not uncommon for shrimp and fish waste to show up in the City’s sewers. Seafood brought into the markets of Baishazhou in Wuhan frequently end up falling in the sewers during the packaging process.

It can be assumed that once the fish and shrimp fall into the sewers, that should be the last anyone sees of them, but not in Wuhan. Apparently some vendors “rescue” the seafood and after rinsing it off in the public bathrooms, sell the seafood to unwary customers.

The vendors mix the “rescued” seafood with other fish and shrimp to be made into “shrimp balls.” This way, the unhygienic origins of the rescued seafood won’t be noticed. It makes one wonder what the shrimp and fish had on them before they were rinsed off in the toilets.

It is bad enough that someone has gone fishing around in a sewer for discarded food items, but to then use a public bathroom to supposedly clean those items off is not the end of the story. Picture above show the vendors using the grimy bathroom floor to prepare their shrimp balls. Disgusting?

Shrimp are at the center of many food scandals in China. Recently, a buyer at a market in Wenzhou said she saw a blob of a jello-like substance fall from the head and body of shrimp she was looking to purchase. Needless to say, she didn’t make a purchase but reported this to the authorities.

People were arrested, and it was later found out that because shrimp often tend to become dry and flat when defrosted, some seafood sellers inject them with gelatin. This gives the shrimp a nice, plump look and makes for better sales.

This writer knows that as consumers, we put a lot of trust in the people who package and sell the foods we buy, but it is also possible that somewhere along the supply line, someone is going to get greedy or try to cut some corners, and unless there is some evidence to the contrary, we would never be the wiser.