Chinese students ‘eating homework’ to relieve exam stress draws amused public reactions

Children in China are embracing the trend of consuming “homework” made from rice paper as a way to alleviate their heavy study burdens, raising concerns regarding food safety.Recently, a snack called “homework” has gained viral popularity among primary and secondary school students.These snacks resemble miniature versions of Chinese textbooks and workbooks, but they are marketed as entirely edible.On China’s e-commerce platforms, these edible workbooks are priced at less than 0.50 yuan (7.5 US cents) each.Packaging often features promotional slogans such as “stress reducer.” Some online retailers even claim that these snacks can help “improve academic grades.”Designed to look like real school workbooks for different subjects, the packaging features bold, promotional labels like “stress reducer.” Photo: BaiduInside each package is a thin piece of rice paper decorated with images of textbooks, dictionaries, certificates of merit, and occasionally, a bank card, which one shop explained is a representation of a scholarship card.The advertised benefits of these edible workbooks evoke memories of a well-known gadget from the anime series Doraemon, known as Memory Bread or Copying Toast. Doraemon is a robotic cat featured in a popular Japanese manga and anime.In the series, pressing this magical bread onto a textbook transfers the text onto it, allowing anyone who consumes it to instantly memorise the content.Historically, ancient China also held the belief that ingesting ink could enhance writing and calligraphy skillsOn online product listings, many parents leave comments noting that their children demanded these snacks after seeing them featured in social media videos.Stress is deeply embedded in China’s education system, impacting students from primary school through secondary school while forcing parents into constant supervision. Photo: ShutterstockOne person claimed that by eating the rice paper homework, their child would “become smart.”Another parent remarked that the snack’s main ingredient, starch, is “healthier than other snacks.”Some children also reported feeling their heavy academic pressure ease by consuming the homework that weighs them down.However, concerns have been raised by the state media outlet China-national-radio" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="19055" data-entity-type="organization">China National Radio regarding the food colouring used to print the textbooks, which may not conform to national food safety standards.These national standards prohibit the use of food colouring in starch products but allow it in candies.Clever marketing slogans even promise students they can “consume” their most disliked subjects by eating these novelty, edible homework sheets. Photo: BaiduOne manufacturer of these textbook snacks, however, asserted that they “produced them as candies.”Dr He Sijun, affiliated with the Mindong Hospital at Fujian Medical University, stated to the SCMP that rice paper and food-grade colouring are safe. However, if industrial colouring is used, it could potentially harm children’s liver and kidney functions.He advised parents to limit their children’s consumption of inexpensive snacks.As the autumn school term begins in China, market regulatory authorities in some regions have conducted special inspections of convenience stores, snack shops, and stationery outlets around schools, urging merchants not to sell these snacks.Further Reading