Latest  News

●Food safety to improve 'in 3 years'
The State Council announced a decision on July 4 to markedly improve food safety, aiming to effectively solve prominent problems in three years.

What's new in the decision:

●Food safety will become a measure of local governments' performance in their annual assessment for the first time.

●A database of food safety records of food companies will be established and those on the black list will be disclosed and punished.

●The government also aims to establish a better regulation mechanism, legal and standard system of the food industry in around five years.

View  Points

Comments:

●Government can't tackle food safety alone
Food safety has become a massive concern in China in recent years, with scandals ranging from the use of "gutter oil" in restaurants to contaminated pork to poisoned milk. Is the government doing enough? Why is public trust in food safety so low?

●Food, drug scandals threaten governance
In some sectors, regulators have been dangerously inactive toward various violations. Only harsh punishment can curb this trend. The food and drug industries can be a good starting point. Public trust and hope for the future greatly hinges on the regulations on these two fields.

●New yoghurt claims it really comes from cows
We often hear domestic food giants claim they are building themselves into leading global brands. However, when convincing people that their products are "real" now becomes their first priority, how on earth can they become competitive in world markets?

Weibo Voices:

@JXK: I think it is fruitless to just focus on penalties. It is more important to go through the regulation system and make scandals such as these happen as little  as possible.

@滴水石-穿: I am glad to see this decision. Food safety is a major problem in China’s society today. The government pays attention to it and proposes  plans to solve it. This is  progress.

@SiamSky: In this way, I am worried  that the local governments will conceal some scandals regarding food safety just so they can receive a good evaluation in their annual assessment.

@Caires: It is not enough for food safety to become a measure of local governments' performance in their annual assessment. I think the penalties for  illegal behavior regarding food safety are too weak. Besides the producers,, the relevant authorities should also be punished.

"Special-supply" Dispute

	●The General Administration of Sport of China, in preparation for the London Olympics, reportedly asked national team members not to eat meat from outside to avoid mistakenly ingesting forbidden drugs and promised a special supply of ingredients to guarantee food safety for the athletes.
	●In 2011, there were reports about many State organs planting vegetables outside cities for their staff. Several departments in Zhejiang Province were also discovered to be enjoying special supplies of food of much higher quality.
	●York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, told Guangzhou Daily on June 24 that 99.999 percent of the food supplied from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong is safe.

Comments:

●Safe food not just for champions and govt officials
This kind of supply guarantees the safety and health for a particular group of people, but also helps hide long-lasting problems in every link of the food production chain, from farming to processing and supervision. Like other social problems, the present stop-gap measures cannot completely cure the food safety problems. In contrast, it to some extent might prevent the problems from being thoroughly solved.

●Safe food is not the exclusive right of a privileged few
The quantity of food supply is no longer a serious problem in most regions of China, but quality has become a nagging one for now. If the country is able to send more astronauts into space, it should be able to tackle the food safety issue, as long as government agencies put enough emphasis on it.

Related  Reports

Recent scandals about food safety
	Scandal-battered Shuanghui to clean up tainted meat Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co., Ltd., the listed arm of China's largest meat processor Shuanghui Group, announced that it would clean up nearly 3,800 tonnes of clenbuterol-tainted meat in a bid to ease consumers' concern.
	Yili recalls milk powder Dairy producer Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co said on June 14 that it has started recalling most of its Quanyou series formula milk powder produced from November 2011 to May 2012 since Wednesday, due to excessive mercury content which is harmful to the nervous system.
	Quanjude ducks liabilty for oil scandal Roast duck chain Quanjude claimed it is the victim of a "gutter oil" scandal, after a man accused of selling poisonous food was alleged to have procured waste oil from two branches of the restaurant.
	Coca-Cola apologizes for chlorine-tainted drinks Coca-Cola Shanxi Beverages Co. Ltd. on May 4 announced the resignation of its general manager and the suspension of several employees after admitting traces of chlorine were found in some of its drinks.
	Lipton tea bags case The city's food and safety watchdog said that no Lipton tea bags containing high levels of toxic pesticides were discovered on store shelves last year during routine checks.
	McDonald's busted selling expired food Authorities in Beijing have summoned top brass of McDonalds in China after one of its fast-food outlets was found to be selling expired food in violation of safety standards. They've demanded the international chain perform a safety inspection and apologize.
	Panic grows over capsule scandal Analysts warned on April 17 that ineffective supervision and inadequate production of edible gelatin left room for manufacturers to use industrial gelatin in medical capsules, as exposed in the latest public scandal.
	Mengniu milk sickens Shaanxi schoolchildren At least 251 pupils fell ill after drinking milk made by the Mengniu Dairy Company at a school in Shaanxi Province on April 22, 2011, according to media reports.
	Gutter oil: food in, health out Several food safety scandals surfaced in 2011, including the "Gutter oil" and cancer-causing clenbuterol added pig feed to produce lean meat.
Government actions to improve food satefy
●Food safety campaign kicks off in China ●China to increase supervision over health food producers ●‘Gutter oil’ sewer problem drained