Fat Choy Harvesting Worsens Desertification

Fat choy is an edible cyanobacterium that grows in the Gobi Desert and the Qinghai Plateau, but has no nutritional value and sells at a high price as a luxury food. Its Cantonese name sounds like a phrase meaning "struck it rich," making it popular in Chinese New Year dishes. Heavy harvesting on the Mongolian steppes has worsened erosion and desertification, prompting the Chinese government to restrict its collection and causing prices to rise further. Fat choy can also contain BMAA, a toxic amino acid linked to ALS, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia, although a 2009 study found that not every genuine sample contained it.

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