Experts cast doubts on product's beneficial effects

During last month's Spring Festival holiday, a post on the micro blog of the National Health and Family Planning Commission advised the public not to purchase ejiao, stating that the gelatin product made from boiled donkey hides was "not as nutritious as chicken eggs for the human body".

Ejiao was once used in traditional Chinese medicine as a blood supplement and to balance yin and yang.

However, today it is used to prevent infertility or miscarriages, and regulate menstrual irregularities. In addition, it is commonly used to prevent wrinkles and aging of the skin.