Photo: China seizes 30,000 tons of chicken feet contaminated with hydrogen peroxide

In the latest stomach-churning food scandal to hit China, authorities have seized over 30,000 tons of chicken feet tainted by hydrogen peroxide, according to state media.

Thirty eight people have been arrested on charges of producing the tainted items, while 11 suspects remain at large.

Images on Chinese news websites show large troughs filled with chicken feet soaking in what authorities say is hydrogen peroxide, a colorless chemical compound used for sterilization and bleaching.

The chemical, which causes vomiting and other stomach problems if consumed, may have been used to give the chicken feet a whiter, cleaner appearance.

A report by official news agency Xinhua said the tainted items were first discovered in Yongjia County in Zhejiang, eastern China. A subsequent investigation revealed hydrogen peroxide was being used in nine factories in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, and Guangdong, affecting several well-known brands of chicken feet sold in stores.

'I want to throw up'.

Chinese internet users are reacting with disdain and frustration.

"Hydrogen peroxide" chicken legs in a large tank bubble.