Jane Chen /Shanghai Daily news

For the sake of your health, don't ingest too much Kentucky Fried Chicken herb soup, food experts have warned.The soup, available in KFC restaurants in Tianjin and South China's Guangdong Province, is not on the menu at its Shanghai outlets, however.
A group of experts from Guangdong held an urgent meeting yesterday morning and concluded that regular or excessive intake of Tianlvxiang, a Chinese wild vegetable which is a major ingredient of the soup, is dangerous to health, today's Xinhua news reported.
They advise that this herb is not suitable for mass production or consumption, nor for regular intake.  But so far, there's no evidence to indicate that its occasional consumption can be toxic.
Their verdicts settled a nationwide debate begun by a Guangdong health expert, Professor Yang Xian at South China Agricultural University.
In his research report published last Wednesday, the professor argued that Tianlvxiang, which can kill white mice, will cause diseases affecting human liver, kidney and procreation systems.  That may be caused by its high cadmium content, which is five-times the recommended national health standard for food, he stated.
Refuting this charge, KFC said no other research has supported this argument so far. The restaurant chain's operator has sent samples of the soup to health authorities for testing, and taken it off the menu until the results are known.
With a scientific name of Sauropus androgynus(L)Merr., Tianlvxiang is mainly found in Southeast Asia.  In China, it can be seen in Hainan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Fujian and Sichuan provinces.
For a person weighing 60 kilograms, the safe daily consumption of the herb is no more than 1.5 grams, according to Professor Yang's research.