Zi's report was broadcast July 8, and showed a street vendor filling steam buns with a mixture of pork and scrap cardboard soaked in caustic soda. Beijing TV broadcast an apology for the report 10 days later, and said that Zi, a freelance reporter, fabricated the video.

In punishment, Liu Aiqin, the head of Beijing TV, was publicly reprimanded, the editor-in-chief, Zhang Xiao, was given a warning and a deputy editor-in-chief was punished with a demerit. All three were told to compose self-criticisms, and seven other people are under investigation, Asia Media reported.

According to the journalism group Reporters Without Borders, the so-called crackdown on fake news was also a reaction to media reports outside China that found Chinese products contained health risks to consumers. In Panama, for example, almost 100 people died after taking Chinese medicines that contained deadly substances, while other stories about contaminated seafood, pet food and toothpaste from China have been followed in the press around the world.