SHANGHAI DINERS 'HOOKED' ON HOT POT

SHANGHAI, - If Shanghai diners feel a nagging urge
to visit their favourite "hot pot" restaurant, there may be a good
reason.

Health authorities found that many of the city's hot pot eateries were
adding opium poppies to the broth to keep customers coming back for
more, the official Wenhui Daily said on Friday.

It said that 11 out of 45 restaurants inspected had added poppies to
their recipes for hot pot, popular in the winter, the newspaper said.

China bans planting and use of opium though it allows some cultivation
supposedly for medical purposes.