Recent reports from China of teeth or tooth-like objects found in prepared foods — including dim sum and sausages — have prompted regulatory probes and renewed public concern about food-safety controls. \
Retail and market authorities opened investigations after videos and eyewitness reports circulated on social media; several incidents in 2024–2025 involved objects that appeared to be dental prostheses rather than natural teeth.
According to South China Morning Post, on October 13, 2025, consumers in different provinces reported discovering artificial teeth in items including a grilled sausage in Jilin province and dim sum in Dongguan, Guangdong province. Local market supervision authorities and health agencies opened investigations after videos and reports circulated on social media. 1
These cases follow earlier, widely publicised episodes. In September 2024 a consumer reported finding a human tooth inside a mooncake purchased at a Sam’s Club outlet in Changzhou; the report triggered a police probe and public debate about quality checks in retail food production. Media archives show other isolated reports over recent years of teeth or tooth-like objects in packaged bakery items and snacks.1
Beyond the immediate food-safety concern, there lies a potential acute medical hazard: ingestion of dental prostheses (or fragments) can be followed by airway aspiration, choking, severe injury and, in some cases, death.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s guidance on foreign-object hazards notes that hard or sharp contaminants present risks of laceration and perforation and should be treated as adulteration under food-safety law. Hard, sharp objects can lacerate the mouth, tongue or oesophagus, cause choking, or perforate the gastrointestinal tract, leading to bleeding, infection or the need for endoscopic or surgical removal.
There are also microbiological considerations. Dental prostheses and fragments may carry oral bacteria or biofilms if they are used ones.2
Foreign-body aspiration typically occurs when an object enters the airway rather than the digestive tract. Large or sharp objects can lodge in the larynx or trachea and cause immediate airway obstruction with choking and inability to breathe. Smaller fragments may pass into the bronchi and produce coughing, wheeze, recurrent infections or lung collapse. 2
South China Morning Post. “Outrage in China as Alarming Reports Surface of Human Teeth Found in Sausages, Dim Sum.” South China Morning Post, October 20 2025. https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3329677/outrage-china-alarming-reports-surface-human-teeth-found-sausages-dim-sum?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article.
Shin, Y., Y. Murai, H. Arakawa, and K. Fujita. “Strategies for Dental Aspiration and Ingestion Accidents That Occurred during Dental Treatment: A Review.” Dentistry Journal 10, no. 9 (2022). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9639253/.
