A Chinese company selling glycine is all the rage on TikTok
By Carl Samson
Glycine, a seemingly mundane food additive, has taken TikTok by storm thanks to a chemical manufacturer in northern China.
Key points:
- Originating from ads by the Hebei-based Donghua Jinlong Chemical Co., the trend shows how even industrial products can become social media sensations.
- Glycine, an amino acid that naturally occurs in the body, has various industrial uses, from food enhancement to metal plating.
The details:
- Glycine is a simple amino acid primarily produced by the liver and kidneys. It is also found in food sources such as meat, seeds, seafood, dairy products and gelatin powders and has many nutritional benefits.
- Glycine has various industrial uses. Aside from being a sweetener and taste enhancer in foods, it serves as a key component in certain medications, chemical synthesis (such as for herbicides) and metal complexation, a critical step in producing high-quality metal coatings.
- The trend began with marketing videos from Donghua Jinlong Chemical Co., a chemical manufacturer in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. Established in 1979, the company has grown to become a leading producer of various glycine products.
- Despite hashtags like #glycine and #DonghuaJinlong not being overly common, the trend has seen significant engagement due to TikTok’s algorithm. Videos from Donghua Jinlong’s own account — which began posting last December — have amassed tens of thousands of views, with its most popular one reaching over 600,000.
- TikTok users have embraced the trend with absurdist humor, creating parodies, mock reviews and even electronic music tracks about glycine. Meanwhile, fans have been dubbed “glycine girlies.”
- Donghua Jinlong, for its part, initially appeared confused by the attention after requests for merchandise products. But it is now responding to videos hopping on the trend, commenting on one, “I’m here.”
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