Swine flu prevention with garlic in China

Garlic prices have been soaring in Chinese markets, where garlic is believed to be able to prevent swine flu. For many years garlic has been used in many herbal remedies to ward off colds and flu but now the threat of swine flu has caused people to try other forms of protection so with demand for the bulb increasing investors are now buying up all the garlic available. China’s Ministry of Commerce have said that the average price for a kilogram of garlic has risen from 14p in March to 54p Another reason for the price increase is also farmer who grew the bulbs also planted less this year in anticipation of falling prices due to the recession.

There is three times more garlic produced in China than the rest of the world combined, speculators have been making a fortune by moving in and buying up the harvests of garlic before they are even ripe, so they can make money out of the demand. Teachers at one school in China have reportedly been forcing students to eat garlic every day in hope that it would prevent an outbreak of the H1N1 flu, however many people don’t seem to be convinced of it efficiency to  prevent swine flu or as a swine flu medication.

Picture courtesy of carbonNYC

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