Why people in China are calling canned yellow peaches a ‘magic medicine’ as Covid cases rise

‘Canned yellow peaches ≠ medicines!’ warns canned food manufacturer as people joke they should be sold as ‘over-the-counter drugs’

People in China are not just emptying supermarket shelves of fever medicines and painkillers, but also a rather unusual product touted as a “healing magic medicine”.

The country is reporting an unprecedented rise in Covid cases after the Xi Jinping administration watered down lockdown curbs. Of late, there has been a surge in panic buying and stockpiling of goods across the country.

Chinese authorities reported 2,000 new symptomatic Covid infections on Wednesday, compared with 2,291 a day earlier. The official figures, however, have become a less reliable guide because testing levels have dropped. The country also stopped reporting asymptomatic figures on Wednesday.

And while supermarkets have witnessed a spike in demand for ibuprofen, cold and fever medicines, and Covid testing kits, people are also hoarding home remedies to fight the virus, despite there being no scientific evidence to back up such claims.

Canned yellow peaches are an example of a product that is being popularised alongside regular medicines on Chinese social media.

The canned fruits are being billed as a “healing magic medicine” that can create “good health and strong immunity”, reported the China Daily newspaper. Jars of the canned fruit are also flying off the shelves in several stores and online ecommerce portals.

This photo shows an almost empty shelf of cold medicine (AFP via Getty Images)

Peaches are considered to be rich in Vitamin C, but there is no scientific evidence to prove the fruits can help fight Covid.

The trend “canned peaches sold out across the country” has been viewed by more than 17.92 million people on China’s Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo.

While several joked that the peaches should be sold as “over-the-counter drugs”, others said they were just a comfort food that could help people with their anxiety amid a rise in the number of Covid cases.

The demand for peaches has prompted one of the country’s largest manufacturers for canned food, Dalian Leasun Food, to clarify in a Weibo post that peaches are not medicines.

“Canned yellow peaches ≠ medicines!” the company said in a post last Friday. “There is enough supply, so there is no need to panic. There is no rush to buy.”

An elderly woman wearing a face mask picks vegetables in a supermarket in Beijing (EPA)

The demand for products such as medicines also increased because of the sudden easing of strict Covid rules last week. It led to long queues outside pharmacies, with products on online platforms quickly selling out.

Several shops have since imposed limits on how much customers can buy, with drugmakers ramping up production.

“Chinese people like to hoard things. How could there be anything left? They like to hoard medicines before they even get sick,” said a doctor in Shanghai.