BETEL BANNED

The death of singer Fu Song from oral cancer on September 10 has triggered nationwide calls to ban the sale of binglang (also known as areca or betel nut), a carcinogenic berry the 36-year-old was addicted to chewing. Months before his death, Fu posted a video warning the public to stay away from the fruit.

Though home to over 60 million binglang consumers, China has been setting tighter controls on the fruit, an addictive stimulant popular in the southern Hunan and Hainan provinces. National authorities listed binglang as a first-class carcinogen in 2017, and banned all binglang advertising on radio, television, and online last year. This September, cities like Yiwu in Zhejiang, Nanchang in Jiangxi, and Chengdu in Sichuan issued notices prohibiting binglang from being sold as a food item. However, a total ban on a fruit backed by a billion-yuan industry and centuries of cultural significance still faces opposition from locals.