Toxic fears ruin shoppers' appetite

Worries about food safety are making cowpeas difficult to stomach, despite the fact that they are now selling for half the price they were last month.

At just 4 yuan a kg, the vegetable is still not shifting from grocery stores. Shoppers lost their appetite after a scandal in southern China in January in which cowpeas grown in Hainan province were found to contain a highly poisonous pesticide.

Cowpeas were banned for a while in Beijing and just came back on the market this week after testing found the foodstuff was safe.