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opportunity-china.co.uk
December 2014
Both the diversity and sheer number of producers (there
are thought to bemore than 500,000) pose a challenge for
supervision.”
The Lancet continues, saying that oversight of food safety
is spread across at least 13 different government bodies,
making collaborative supervision of food safety difficult.
From baby formula taintedwithmelamine to the recent
discovery of Shanghai Husi FoodCo. – a subsidiary of U.S.-
basedOSI Group – repackaging expiredmeat to be sold to
fast food chains, China has seen a string of high-profile food
Anonlinepoll
showed that
expected to soon
bea victimof
foodpoisoning.
“
safety scandals. While government action has been swift following each instance
that grabs headlines, themorewidespread problem of common food poisoning
has seen little action at the hands of authorities.
The Lancet cites a survey from late 2010 that foundChinese consider food
safety as the second-largest threat they face in daily life, just under earthquakes.
An online poll cited in the publication’s report showed that 92 percent of Chinese
respondents expected to soon be a victim of food poisoning.
But the government hasn’t been sitting on its hands as food safety deteriorates
in the country.
In June, a revision of China’s Food Safety Lawwas unveiled, pledging
tougher sanctions for offenders and a stricter food-safety supervision system
(See page 31).
The new bill allows consumers to demand reparations worth three times losses
incurred from substandard food. The previous law only called for ten times the
price of the tainted food to be paid as reparations.
Likewise, suppliers of contaminated food can face up to 30 times the value of
their respective products, an increase from 10 times the same amount stipulated
in the previous law. If said tainted food is less than 10,000 yuan (or $1,600U.S.),
those involved can be fined asmuch as 150,000 yuan, up from 50,000 yuan
according to the previous law.
The bill also punishes landlords or owners of production sites pumping out
tainted food or treating foodwith contaminants for profits. The income from these
ventures will be seized and offenders can be fined an additional 200,000 yuan.
Officials aiding in these illegal activities will also have their positions revoked,
according to the law.
Premier Li Keqiang also announced a “war on pollution,” in a bid to address
the growing concerns over air, water and soil contamination throughout the
country. Themost promising sign, however, of the government addressing food
safety issues is the statement from Zhang Yong, head of China’s Food Safety
Commission, quoted in the newspaper SouthernWeekly: “Tomanage food safety
issues, we absolutely cannot have an ostrichmentality - no dodging or concealing.
Problems can really only be addressed by uncovering them and resolving them as
much as possible.”
