Food safety in China

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

UGEC 2642B : Social Development and Social Welfare in Contemporary China

Group Presentation

Policies or programs solving the food safety problem in China

Thanks for your attention! :)

Underlying factors of Food safety problems in China

First Impression on Chinese food...

THE END

1. Disclose all the details in any food safety incidents

6. Media should bear some responsibilities and stay hornest

Seven Suggestions for improving the situation

-> avoiding reoccurrence

-> building consumer confidence

-> setting up consultant committee with

representatives of all aspect of

stakeholders

Eye-catching news without scientific base

Food safety education

China National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA)

2. Construct a harsher food safety law

6. Investigte into the food safety conditions

• Cheap?
• Fake?
• Unhealthy?
• Not guaranteed?
• Tasty?

Food Safety Law

-> inspect all food businesses strictly

-> impose penalties

=>pose a deterrent effect

-> revise the law annaully

Education institues

• establish some investigation centre on food safety and consumers investigation centre
• Due to the trust in the professionals and their moral,

-> 仄more reliable

4. Provide training and education

5. Work with the international partners

3. Build a comprehensive food safety system

Education institution:

• Teach students how to identify the improper procedures in food production -> public inspection system
• Promote sustainable agriculture: set up a new atmosphere, no additives and chemicals in farm
• Set up some regular courses for nourishing professionals in food safety

Severity of the problem

-> combine into ONE coherent authority with duties well-divided

-> “from the farm to the table”

National Food Safety Committee

• The International Food Safety Authorities Network, INFOSAN

• Attain the most updated limits or technical issues in relation to detection methodology

TO: monitoring the food products for any foodborne disease or excess chemicals added in when selling on shelves.

FROM: promoting environmental friendly and sustainable agriculture

• Incidents keep on happening throughout the years.
• The milk powder scandal made people become more alert the food safety in China and laws are set up.
• But then, incidents continues to happen...

China Drug and Food Administration

Before and After

The Food Safety Law

Highlights of the Food Safety Law

China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)

The milk scandal raised the needs of revising the food safety law and polices.

Definition

2. Harmful Egg

1. Milk Powder Scandal

5. Artificial Meat

3. Gutter oil

4. Fried Chicken

Introduction of Top 10 昔Tainted Chinese Food

The carcinogenic component makes cardiac muscle fibrosis.

• The Food Safety Committee established
• No company may produce any food additive without obtaining a production permit from a competent authority
• Food producers and food distributors in China must establish an internal system for inspection and record
• No food products may be exempted from government inspection
• A food recall system established
• Penalties significantly increased for the violators of this Law

• “food”: finished products and raw materials for people to eat or drink, and articles which are traditionally food and medicine, excluding articles that are used for the purpose of medical treatment

• “food safety”: the food is nontoxic, innocuous and satisfies the necessary nutritional requirements, and does not cause any acute, sub-acute or chronic hazards to the human health

• 25/4/2011
• Nitrite salts
• becomes cyanotic and vomits and finally died.

red egg york

After

Before

Analysis of the food safety policies

Major changes:

• The Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (2009)

• China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) (2013)

• Several Food Safety Expo.

• The Food Hygiene Law (1995)
• 5 major departments monitoring food safety in China
• The Ministry of Health (1949)
• The Ministry of Agriculture (1949)
• The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) (2001)
• The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) (2001)
• The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) (2003)

• November 2008
• melamine -> kidney damage
• 300,000 victims, six infants died, 54,000 babies were hospitalised

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20110425/00174_001.html

Sudan red

Inevitable?

Shameful?

Prevalent?

Food Safety Expo

Result:

Hard to achieve “From farm to table” approach

=>Gray zone is formed

Sidenote

Structure of Administration was reformed on 22nd March, 2013

Past:

• “Nine dragons manage the rain”
• Five ministries are responsible for food safety supervision
• lack of policy coherence
• Lack of coordination mechanisms between central and local governments
• unknown country’s total surveillance capacity

For consumers:

For the Food factory and traders:

For the government:

For the food factory and traders:

For the government:

• Fault of legal system
• In China, Safety Food is published in 2009, but in America, it has been published for 105 years.

• Small factory with little money
• Primitive environment
• Old equipment
• Untrained workers
• Inferior raw materials

• Inflation
• Fierce competition between companies ( cut costs in any possible)

• Information Asymmetry
• Invalid food ingredient
• Unknown food quality and food source

• Low Living Standard
• Less expensive food based on Low quality food

• Agricultural (Soil and water are polluted because of excess mass vehicles).

Thus, Quality of products

• Traders did not follow the standard to produce food

• Abuse and illegal use of farm chemical, food additive, etc. which contaminated the raw materials

• Put advanced, complicated technologies to produce food

• The excuses of government departments and dereliction of supervisory boards
• More than 10 departments in charge of food safety
• Lack of communication and cooperation
• Departments are always pass the buck

• Regulatory agencies fail to increase the penalty

Mild Penalty

• Imperfection of laws, regulations and standard
• Fail certification system and detection system
• Disorder of management
• Lack of professional inspectors
• Regulations have many blind areas

Food Hygiene Law => Food Safety Law

Poor management of the small-sized markets

To operate unqualified food or the food causes harm

Farmer’s marketing places making sanitary situation terrible

• Broader coverage
• food production
• processing
• distribution and catering
• production and sales of food additives
• production and sale of packing materials
• containers, cleansers and disinfectants for food
• tools and equipment used in food production and distribution
• the use of food additives and Food-Related Products

• Government realizes the Food Safety Law is out-of-date
• From 29th October, 2013, the law is now being revised
• The pending law will be more rigorous:

15 to 30 times

5 to 10 times

But, the people will only be sued when the food cause health problem

Can the law reduce the production of unqualified food ?

Food safety in China

Member list:

Cheung Hoi Luen,Lam Chung Wai,Lo Ho Kiu,Ko Tsz Hin,Wong Ying Chi