How do you know whether your soap is indeed all natural and additive-free?
If nothing happens to you after you eat it, as the chairman of a soap maker sought to demonstrate when he chomped on a soap bar to prove his point.
In a viral video on Chinese social media platform Weibo, the chairman of home-grown Chinese company Hongwei, who appears to be doing a presentation in a room, takes a bite of a soap bar and washes it down with water.
"There are no harmful substances," the chairman says in Mandarin. "It tastes of cow and sheep fats and milk."
"There are no side effects. When it enters your body, it will break down body fat and oil," he claims.
"We can't say it helps in weight loss, but it has the effect of breaking down fat and oil," he adds.
According to him, the soap is made from cow and sheep fats and does not contain gutter oil and additives such as talc or whitening agent titanium dioxide.
In another video, a Hongwei employee said the viral video was filmed some time ago, but started to gain more popularity and views only recently.
Founded in 1952, Hongwei sells a variety of body cleansing and laundry cleaning products.
A check on the Taobao e-commerce website shows Hongwei's laundry soap bars, whose prices start from 15 yuan or S$3 for a packet of five, contain ingredients such as alkali and water. The product description also indicates cow and sheep fats.
The video of the soap-eating chairman was both ridiculed and praised by Weibo users, including one who said the chairman had put in lots of efforts, and that his resolve, hard work and bravery were vital for success.
One comment said the soap had to be nominated as this year's most creative mooncake.
Another social media user said in jest that he wanted his soap factory supervisor to follow suit and eat soap too.
Others offered to buy his soap as they felt bad that he had to resort to eating one to sell his products.
"Put a few bars in the bathroom so that we will have something to eat when we take shelter there during an earthquake," said one Weibo user.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
