A resident surnamed Zhang has found that the pepper he bought from a market in Dongguan, Guangdong Province was actually made from mud, the China News reported on Thursday.

The vendor responsible told reporters that selling fake pepper was acceptable, as the fake seasoning would not kill people.

Some of the white pepper has been made from flour, according to the report.

The fake pepper is sold for 60 yuan ($9.2) per kilogram while its cost to the vendor is only 4 yuan ($0.6).