Fish is a delicious and healthy kind of food. But getting a fish bone (刺) stuck in your throat can be a nightmare (噩梦) . What if the fish didn’t have those annoying little bones?

Chinese researchers have created the world’s first kind of fish without bones. They used gene editing (基因编辑) to do it. This creation ends a global debate for more than 50 years on whether bones can be removed.

The new kind of fish is a bony fish mostly eaten in Eastern Europe and Asia. However, its tiny bones make it difficult to eat and process. Removing the bones could open up greater business opportunities (机会) .

The team at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences’ Heilongjiang Fishery Research Institute started the project in 2009. They found the key gene, from 1,600 genes, that controls the growth of the fish’s bones. Then they removed the gene without influencing the fish’s growth and reproduction (繁殖) .

They also highly focused on the biological safety of the new kind of fish. They made sure that the fish can swim and make babies safely in the wild, and that they wouldn’t bring bad influence to the ecosystem (生态系统) .

Although there is still a long way to go about safety regulation (管理) and mass production (量产) , the team members are excited.

“People will no longer have to pick out tiny fish bones,” Li Shaowu, head of the team, said. “This can greatly change the fish diet culture and habits around the world.”

China has been spread a nationwide activity called “Clear Your Plate” since 2013. This year, some restaurants are encouraging people to order food using the formula ( 公 式 ) “N-1”. “N” stands for the number of diners at a table. If there are 6 people at your table, you only order 5 dishes.

In 2016, France passed a law that stop the stores from throwing away unsold food. If it’s still safe to eat, the food must be given to charity (慈善机构); if not, it goes to farmers for use as animal feed.

In 2019, the US said it encourages food companies to use the phrase “best if used by” for date labeling (标签). This helps shoppers better understand that they don’t need to throw food out after the printed date passes if the food is stored correctly.

In Japan, there are many food banks. People and the stores can offer the rest of food to them and they will provide the food to those in need.

In 2016, South Korea started to ask people to pay for throwing away food. There are scales   ( 称 )   on trash bins that are used to weigh the food. One ton of food waste costs 1.5 million won (8, 700   yuan).

The World Consumer(消费者)Rights Day is on March 15. It is a day to remind consumers of their legal right. The 3.15 Gala, a yearly show produced by China Central Television pays attention to the protection of consumers’ rights. The gala exposes(揭露) cases which do anything against the consumers’ rights in different fields.

This year’s 3.15 gala exposed the inside story of the production of pickled(腌制的) cabbage.

Awful! The Hunan Chaqi Vegetable Limited Company produces plenty of pickled cabbage these years. But they have a terrible hygiene(卫生) problem.

A video showed workers, some wearing slippers, some without shoes, were stepping on the pickled cabbage. Others were smoking and one even threw the cigarette directly into the cabbage.

The topic “3.15 Gala pickled cabbage” quickly became the hottest topic on social media.

Consumers are worried about their health because a type of instant noodles with pickled cabbage, such as Master Kong(康师傅) has been popular among so many people for years.

Master Kong said to the public quickly that it had stopped working with Chaqi. It promises that all the products will be taken off the shelves as soon as possible.

According to Chaqi’s website, its partners include KFC, Master Kong and many other well-known businesses, such as Uni-President(统一) and McDonald’s. KFC later said that Chaqi was not one of its suppliers(供应商) and insisted that the information from Chaqi’s was not true. However, Chaqi’s website was shut down right after the 3.15 Gala.

If anyone is interested in more information, please visit https://www. cntv. cn.