Chengdu distillery fined 2.52M yuan for spiking herbal liquor with Viagra: what the official notice says
[Gossip / men's health] On the morning of Oct 17, 2026, "Distillery spiked medicinal liquor with Viagra, fined 2.52 million yuan" entered Baidu's realtime hot list at #19. The case is one of five food-safety enforcement cases that Chengdu's food safety office published on Oct 12; a Guangming Online write-up on Oct 17 brought it back into the spotlight. This recap sticks to the official notice and news reports.
What happened
According to the notice, in December 2025 Chengdu's market regulator investigated Chengdu Huangjinyan Distillery for making and selling blended liquor containing a non-food ingredient. The distillery steeped untested base liquor with herbal ingredients such as honeysuckle and dried oysters, skipped incoming-goods inspection, didn't keep accurate production records, and printed false production dates and other label details. Several batches tested positive for sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra.
The penalty
The regulator found multiple violations of China's Food Safety Law and issued a warning, a fine and confiscation of illegal gains totaling 2.5208 million yuan (about US$350,000).
Why it matters
Sildenafil is a prescription drug, and Chinese rules ban adding it to food. People drinking a "health" or "tonic" liquor had no way to know they were taking a prescription drug, let alone under a doctor's guidance.
What to check before buying "male tonic" liquor
The problems in the notice are exactly what a buyer can look at: a proper production licence and complete label, a believable production date and maker, and marketing that promises instant "performance" effects. If you do have erection problems, the safe route is a urologist or men's health clinic, where a doctor can decide whether medication suits you.
Sources: Sichuan Online / Consumer Quality News (Oct 12, 2026) https://cbgc.scol.com.cn/news/8048455 ; Shenzhen News (Oct 14) https://www.sznews.com/news/content/2026-10/14/content_32191958.htm ; CQNews (Oct 14) https://www.cqnews.net/web/content_1560059631774556160.html ; Guangming Online (Oct 17) https://m.gmw.cn/2026-10/17/content_1304576285.htm