Why does pork with a bright red color turn dull and faded after bringing it home? Is this a normal phenomenon or a "color change trap" set by the seller?

Under the warm-red “fresh meat lamps,” the pork looks red and fresh—yet after consumers bring it home, it turns dull and loses its luster. Many consumers have encountered this “color-change trap.”

On December 1, 2023, the newly revised Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Quality and Safety in Market Sales of Edible Agricultural Products, newly updated by the State Administration for Market Regulation, officially took effect. Under the new measures, market regulation authorities in multiple places across the country deployed special cleanup campaigns targeting “fresh meat lamps.” For a time, the beauty-enhancing “fresh meat lamps” disappeared from the scene.

Now, more than two years into the implementation of the new rules, reporters’ visits and investigations have found that in some areas, at certain farmers’ markets and non-fixed stalls, “fresh meat lamps” are still being used.

The stubborn “red-light beautification” ailment still exists in the market

Recently, reporters visited multiple supermarkets in Nanning, Guangxi, and found that display counters for fresh meat generally use cool-white lighting fixtures. The color of the meat being sold is genuine and natural, showing no obvious color difference when compared with natural light.

However, in some counties in Guangxi, the use of “fresh meat lamps” remains relatively common in down-market areas.

In a visit to the urban area of Zhaoping County in Guangxi, reporters found that local street-front butchers do not use traditional hanging “fresh meat lamps.” Instead, they embed pink tube lights into the top portion of freezers. When consumers pick out meat up close, the fixtures are not exposed, but the meat looks quite presentable under the “pink” lighting.

At the same time, in some farmers’ markets, reporters observed that a small number of stall owners are “bending the rules” with their lamp shades. Inside the Langxi Market in Nanning, at one meat stall, the stall owner used lighting fixtures with red lamp shades, which still affected the true color of the meat being sold to some extent.

When reporters asked, “Why is the light so red?” most stall owners fell silent or shifted the topic, saying that the meat they sell is freshly slaughtered that very morning.

When discussing the “fresh meat lamp” ban, one stall owner using such fixtures said bluntly that all stall owners are aware of the relevant regulations, but they have no choice—because the red light makes the meat color look better and sells more easily. “I’m afraid others will use it and I won’t, and then I’ll suffer and hurt business. The regulators can’t come and check every day—once they come to check, I’ll just replace the lights.”

Sun Chunhe, an inspection officer in the Food Operation Inspection Division of the Nanning Municipal Market Supervision Administration, said: “Overall, the fresh edible agricultural products using ‘fresh meat lamps’ in Nanning are mainly pork; there are also some vivid-colored fruits, and stall owners also use such fixtures.”

Near the Langxi Night Market in Nanning, reporters saw stalls selling fruits such as mandarins, pomegranates, and jackfruits. Under the illumination of “fresh meat lamps,” the fruits appear even more red and vibrant.

Industry insiders say most of these stalls are non-fixed stalls that are not under the centralized management of the night market. With the “hit-and-run” model of one person driving one vehicle, consumers also find it difficult to seek rights protection when problems are discovered.

It is reported that since the relevant regulations issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Nanning market supervision authorities have actively carried out market inspections targeting the “fresh meat lamps” issue, urging and guiding nearly 3,000 operators across the city to replace lighting fixtures that meet requirements.

Local authorities also periodically release notices of relevant law-enforcement cases. In March 2025, Chongqing reported a total of 91 illegal cases involving the sale of fresh edible agricultural products using “fresh meat lamps.”

Where do the noncompliant lamps come from?

Using “fresh meat lamps” as keywords, reporters searched on multiple online shopping platforms and found that related products are still being openly sold. One item labeled “pork-only beauty-enhancing lamp” has monthly sales exceeding 1,000 units, priced from dozens of yuan to several hundred yuan.

It is worth noting that many merchants “write copy” on the product detail pages, using “the new national standard” as a gimmick and boldly posting promotional slogans such as “invisible red, fresher-looking” and “pork stays bright red and won’t turn yellow.” Some products also claim they can adjust the light color. Customer service for the lamp store said, “Normally, use red light to make the meat look nicer. When they come to inspect, it can be instantly switched to full white light.”

Some merchants even base their operations on their own “sales experience,” figuring out how strictly different places enforce “fresh meat lamp” regulations. Reporters, posing as meat stall operators, asked the sellers and received the reply: “The South is managed more strictly. In the Northeast, you can use lights that are very red.” “In Guangxi, Nanning can use lights that are slightly red, but in Beihai, it’s the strictest.”

Reporters placed an order on a platform for a “fresh meat lamp” claiming “slightly red light.” After the item arrived, we powered it on for a test and found that the lamp indeed emits pinkish light and has a clear “beautifying” effect on fresh foods of red-orange color types.

At the same time, reporters noticed that included with the product in the shipment was also a certificate of conformity, in which the product name was blurred as “market lamp,” and it also stated that it referred to a so-called “recommended national standard.” But when reporters entered the standard number to query on the National Standard Information Public Service Platform, no relevant information was found.

Industry insiders say that producing lighting fixtures according to relevant national standards in itself is not a violation. Using colored lamps or color-changing lamps in settings such as indoor home renovation and ambiance arrangements is also within reasonable and legitimate use. However, selling “fresh meat lamps” under the banner of “the new national standard,” with the selling point of “making the meat color look bright red,” is suspected of violating Article 4 of the Advertising Law—advertising must not contain false or misleading content, nor deceive or mislead consumers.

“Directly or indirectly implying that it can change the color and appearance of agricultural products will have a bad reverse guidance effect on merchants,” said Wang Zhunkun, a lawyer at Guangdong Jiade Xin (Longgang) Law Firm. He added that if relevant platforms fail to remove the products promptly or block the stores, they also must bear responsibility for failure to detect.

Treat both the symptoms and root causes to prevent rebound

“Fresh meat lamps” is a common folk term, not a legal concept.

“The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Quality and Safety in Market Sales of Edible Agricultural Products require that ‘when selling fresh edible agricultural products, facilities such as lighting devices that mislead consumers by causing obvious changes to sensory characteristics of the true color and other sensory properties of edible agricultural products must not be used,’” said Liu Chengliang, associate professor at the School of Politics and Public Administration, Suzhou University. “But it does not explicitly mention ‘fresh meat lamps.’ Currently, there is also no national standard specifically issued for such lamps. At the grassroots law-enforcement level, there is no ‘quantified’ handle; the determination of ‘sensory perception’ is highly subjective. Market regulators often end up in disputes with vendors over whether the true color has been changed.”

There are also disputes over the definition and categorization of fresh edible agricultural products. Industry experts say that in current law-enforcement practice, items such as meat, vegetables, and fruits are generally included in the management of fresh edible agricultural products, while chilled/frozen aquatic products are in a “gray zone.”

Among 10 typical cases of “fresh meat lamps” published in Chongqing, most involve “warnings” as the primary penalty, and only 1 case—after a reexamination by relevant authorities—found that the party concerned refused to correct the issue and was fined 5,000 yuan administratively.

“Street shops, farmers’ markets, and scattered stalls are widespread and diverse, making it hard for regulatory forces to cover everything. Fixed evidence and traceability responsibility are also not easy. The low cost of illegal conduct directly leads to reduced enforcement deterrence,” said Wei Wanying, a professor at the School of Social Development, East China Normal University.

Currently, some local market managers have summarized a set of practical approaches to promote the ban on “fresh meat lamps.”

At the Youyi Smart Farmers’ Market in Nanning, reporters observed that, based on guidance from local market regulation authorities, the market management team centrally and uniformly purchased lighting facilities that met requirements, effectively curbing some stall owners’ “workarounds,” and also resolving the compliance difficulty for merchants of “what kind of lamp to replace with.” “We actively guide operators to change their business philosophy and encourage them to launch fresh foods without beauty-enhancing filters,” said Lin Yaoyi, the person in charge of the market.

Industry insiders believe that to help “fresh meat lamps” truly “get off the job,” the fundamental solution lies in improving regulations and refining standards. In recent years, the China Illuminating Engineering Society has issued a group standard titled the “Lighting Source Color Rendering Specification for Fresh Edible Agricultural Products.” Places such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Nanjing have also successively introduced local standards and working guidelines, providing some basis for grassroots enforcement.

Liu Chengliang recommends that a national unified state standard for lighting facilities for fresh edible agricultural products be issued as soon as possible, clarifying key parameters such as correlated color temperature and color rendering index, while also making clear the scope of application so that enforcement and supervision can follow clear rules.

E-commerce platforms must also earnestly fulfill their main responsibility. “For stores selling ‘fresh meat lamps’ in violation, take measures such as removing the products from listings and shutting down the stores—never tolerate it. Source-based governance should cut off the distribution chain of ‘fresh meat lamps,’” said Wei Wanying.

Staff of the market regulation departments remind consumers that when purchasing fresh food, they can compare it under natural light to avoid being tricked, while also serving as a “good money drives out bad money” mechanism that deprives “fresh meat lamps” of the environment in which they can operate effectively. (Wang Churan)

Editor: Li Ying

Proofreader: Xu Huan

Source: Xinhua News Agency