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I have heard stories of dining on fetal tissue in China, but didn’t discuss it here because I wasn’t satisfied with the reliability and considered it most likely an urban myth. But this story seems solid. South Korean authorities have seized pills made up mostly of human fetal tissue. From the disgusting story in the Daily Mail:

Thousands of pills filled with powdered human flesh have been discovered by customs officials in South Korea, it was revealed today. The capsules are in demand because they are viewed as being a medicinal ‘cure-all’. The grim trade is being run from China where corrupt medical staff are said to be tipping off medical companies when babies are aborted or delivered still-born. The tiny corpses are then bought, stored in household refrigerators in homes of those involved in the trade before they are removed and taken to clinics where they are placed in medical drying microwaves. Once the skin is tinder dry, it is pummelled into powder and then processed into capsules along with herbs to disguise the true ingredients from health investigators and customs officers.

This is cannibalism.

Words fail. And why do I think more people will be upset with the taking of Rhino horn and shark fin for “medicinal” purposes—both very real problems—than this?

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