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China introduces five-year food safety plan
Story Date: 6/21/2012
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Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 6/20/12
The State Council of China has announced an extensive five-year plan to improve the safety of food produced in that country, according to the Xinhua News Agency, the government’s official news service.
The plan adds 269 new national food safety standards to the more than 2,000 national standards, more than 2,900 industry standards, and more than 1,200 regional food safety standards that already exist, according to a report on FoodQualityNews.com. Nevertheless, the program is intended to simplify China’s complex and confusing system of food safety oversight.
The program also includes “tighter supervision and harsh punishments for violators,” says Xinhua.
"It is an onerous task for the government to ensure food safety," as China's food industry is still suffering from unstandardized management and many hidden safety risks, according to a statement released by the government. The government should enhance supervision by setting up an efficient mechanism that covers all links in the food industry and a rigid food recall and destroy system for defective products, the statement said.
China has had sporadic, serious issues arise in its food production system, including an episode of clenbuterol in pork in 2011 that led to the conviction if 113 people, one of whom was sentenced to death.
In recent years Chinese food products, including dog food shipped to the U.S. and milk and baby formula distributed domestically, have been found to be tainted with melamine.
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