On September 28, 2026, Hong Kong media outlet Hong Kong 01 reported that walnut oil sold in China's live commerce, advertised as supporting farmers, was a fake made with inexpensive soybean oil.

According to the article, an inspection conducted by the State Administration for Market Regulation revealed that the 2.5 kg containers of walnut oil sold under the banner of supporting farmers had a palmitic acid content of 10.8%, exceeding the national standard reference range of 2.2% to 10.0%.

Subsequent tracking and on-site investigations by authorities then revealed that it was not actually walnut oil but a counterfeit product refilled with inexpensive soybean oil.

China Central Television (CCTV) pointed out that in a live stream on an online shop, the streamer was selling this 'walnut oil' using farmer support and low prices as selling points. It was claimed to have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of 298 yuan (approximately 7,000 yen) but was sold for 39.99 yuan (approximately 940 yen), and many consumers reportedly purchased it.

Furthermore, although the product packaging indicated that it was manufactured by a company in Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, an investigation by market supervision authorities revealed that the company name, address, production license number, etc., were all fictitious, and the actual workshop was located in a remote private house.

The article introduced the authorities' investigation findings, stating that a person named Sun (スン), who was in charge of the workshop, without obtaining a food production license, had been refilling soybean oil with his family since January of this year, applying different labels to disguise it as walnut oil or perilla oil, and wholesaling it to intermediaries who then sold it via live streaming for 39.99 yuan per can, which is about five times the cost of soybean oil. In half a year, they had completed 64,107 transactions, with sales exceeding 3.1 million yuan (approximately 7.25 million yen).

Furthermore, from the site, 2,660 liters of soybean oil intended for counterfeiting, 5,128 empty plastic bottles, over 10,000 label stickers, and equipment such as filling machines were reportedly seized.