China warns citizens that peaches cannot treat COVID amid hoarding of the fruit for its ‘magic’ healing

China’s state media platforms have refuted the growing belief among Chinese citizens that canned peaches can treat COVID-19.

Chinese citizens reportedly began hoarding canned peaches for their purported “magic” healing properties as the country reopened after months of strict lockdowns.

The demand for canned peaches was so high that online sales platforms have reportedly run out of stock, reported South China Morning Post.

State-run publication People’s Daily published a statement from Shaanxi hospital Deputy Director Gao Xiaoling to dissuade people from panic buying.

“Canned yellow peaches are not really a special medicine for fever and cough. It is more like a sweet ‘placebo,’ like the cake you eat or the milk tea you drink when you are stressed,” Gao was quoted as saying.

Platform Beijing Youth Daily also published a notice on Monday that said peaches should not be used as a medical treatment.

“The conclusion that ‘canned yellow peaches can cure diseases,’ drawn from good childhood memories, has no practical value in curing diseases,” the piece read. “It can only be regarded as a kind of joke or poetic expression.”

Reiterating that stocking up on canned peaches is pointless, the publication added: “Eating in moderation can make you happy and be good for your body, but it is not recommended to stock up on canned food blindly.”

Meanwhile, an editorial published by China Daily attributed the peach-buying craze to viral online claims that consuming yellow peaches can help patients overcome a number of ailments. The platform pointed out that the belief is based on a myth that originated in Northeastern and Northern China and eventually spread across the country.

A similar phenomenon occurred in the U.S. in 2020 when consumers went into an orange-buying frenzy amid the belief that taking high doses of vitamin C could help prevent or cure COVID-19. The World Health Organization has debunked this belief and reiterated that the only way to minimize the chances of contracting the virus is to take preventive steps against infection.

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