Counterfeit Budweiser Plant Busted... and it's Gross

Authorities raided a facility in Southern China that was churning out 600,000 cartons of fake beer every month.

Even the best of us have gone through a Budweiser stage – perhaps in college, and purely hypothetically.

Well, now the thought of stomaching one just got a little harder… but it’s not Budweiser’s fault. The blame falls squarely on the factory in China who was recently busted for producing knock-off versions of the famous brew.

On May 5th, authorities raided a facility in the city of Dongguan in Southern China that was churning out 600,000 cartons of fake beer every month. But it wasn’t until video footage of the processing line in action was leaked that people began to take notice. You see, the now-viral footage shows workers scooping up liquid from tubs with their bare hands to fill cans that are then sent down the assembly line to be sealed.

Shanghiist says the cans themselves were “recycled” – which is just vague enough to be somehow grosser – and that the illicit products were being distributed to bars and nightclubs.

Budweiser actually has a pretty strong brand in China, and AB InBev has 14 legitimate breweries there. Mashable reported that a Budweiser representative told Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming Pao that the company had reported the matter to the police, and is seeking legal action.

I’m Anna Wells and this is IEN Now.

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