fatt choy, kong hei fatt choy

everyone wants to fatt fatt fatt for the new year...but just found out that fatt choy is bad for you...alamak gotta eat other food to fatt this year...here's the article below

hopefully the small serving we ate over the years...do no harm lah!! better go makan a banana lor...safer & more nutritous.

HK group calls for total ban on fa cai - Jan 31, 2007 The Straits Times

HONG KONG - A GROUP of Hong Kong researchers has called for a total ban on the sale of fa cai - a hair-like sea moss that is widely consumed during Chinese New Year.

The team from the Chinese University's department of biochemistry said international research showed that the plant - known as Nostoc or black moss in English - not only has no nutritional value but has also been found to contain a toxic amino acid that could affect the normal functions of nerve cells.

Eating black moss could lead to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and dementia.Eating black moss could lead to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and dementia, Professor Chan King Ming of the team told the media on Monday, the Standard newspaper reported.

China banned all exports of black moss in 2000 after listing it as an endangered species.
But Hong Kong has yet to ban the sale of black moss, keeping alive a demand that has encouraged cultivation of the plant in the mainland, Prof Chan said.

Black moss is widely eaten in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year, mainly because its Chinese name, fa cai, is homonymous with 'prosperity' in Cantonese and Mandarin.