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Garlic prices soar over Gold in China amid flu fears – USATODAY.com (Dec 2009)
March 8, 2010 by Patrick Burwell
Filed under NEWS
Garlic prices soar in China amid flu fears – USATODAY.com
BEIJING — Wrapped up in earmuffs and a heavy
jacket to fight the Beijing winter, Liu Zhan shows little
sign of soaring wealth. Until he removes his gloves —
and reveals a large gold ring. At the Chinese capital’s
biggest vegetable wholesale market, other traders call
him “Millionaire Liu.”
The pungent root of that nickname is stacked in bags
on and around Liu’s haulage truck. Garlic prices have
jumped so high in China that the crop has
outperformed gold and stocks to be the country’s
best performing asset this year.
As H1N1 swine flu continues to worry China’s leaders
— who are rolling out a nationwide vaccine program
— its people seek a more traditional remedy. Just as
some Chinese turned to turnips to prevent the SARS
virus in 2003, garlic has emerged as a swine flu
fighter in 2009.
“Garlic kills bacteria, and I eat at least half a bulb each
day,” says Liu, 43, whose prices have leapt from just
five cents a pound in February to almost 55 cents
today. [...]
[Don't be snookered by the garlic and onion myths. -PB]
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