Society

Supervisory agencies blamed for food scandals

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-19 19:59

BEIJING - When a food safety scandal emerges in China, supervisory agencies deserve to be held as accountable as those violating food safety regulations, Chinese experts said.

Every time a food safety scandal surfaces, people tend to place all the blame on relevant food companies while overlooking the dereliction of duty exhibited by supervisory agencies, said Ma Guanghai, a professor of sociology with Shandong University's School of Philosophy and Social Development.

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Relevant government departments and officials should also be held accountable, Ma said.

Ma's comments came after a recent series of food safety scandals emerged despite Chinese authorities' efforts to revamp the country's food industry.

Last week, steamed buns in Shanghai were reported to have been dyed, expired or laced with coloring additives to mislead consumers.

Less than one month ago, the country's largest meat processor, Shuanghui Group, was forced to publicly apologize after some of its pork products were found to contain clenbuterol, an additive which stops pigs from accumulating fat and is poisonous to humans who ingest it.

Food safety violations should be resolved in an effective and timely manner. Unfortunately, people usually don't see effective supervisory tactics until violations develop into very serious problems, said Chen Yuesheng, a research fellow with the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences.

In such cases, serious investigations should be conducted and harsh punishments should be given to officials found guilty of malpractice or corruption, Chen said.

Official statistics show that the country's food safety supervision agencies dealt with 130,000 cases of regulation violations or improper practices and detained 248 people suspected of criminal charges last year.

According to Ma, the number of ventures engaged in production of foodstuffs, food additives and other food related products across the country has exceeded 400,000.

"The number of food safety personnel is relatively small compared to their workload," Ma said.

Before Shuanghui Group's clenbuterol-tainted pork scandal broke, supervisors had reportedly requested that swine farmers send pork samples themselves. The farmers, then, were able to provide samples they knew to be free of clenbuterol instead of random samples that may have been tainted with clenbuterol.

"Food safety personnel lack adequate equipment and techniques for examining food products quickly and effectively," Ma said. "That, however, should not be an excuse for failing to supervise food safety issues."

Experts and industry insiders also say some of the current administrative system's loopholes are partially to blame for the string of scandals.

In some regions, local food safety agencies cover their spending and officials' wages with the revenue obtained from fines, leading to a reluctancy to take preventive measures against violations, a food safety supervisor in Shandong Province told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity.

Another concern is that too many agencies are responsible for food safety issues, leading to some overlapping or ambiguous areas in their fields of supervisory responsibilities, said Huang Pei, an associate professor with Tongji University's Law School.

With limited financial and personnel resources, relevant government agencies might be reluctant to make an effort or take initiative at solving a problem, but they still expect others to do the job, Huang said.

"The system must be streamlined to fix this problem," Huang added.

China established in February 2010 a national food safety commission under the State Council, or the cabinet, in an effort to coordinate relevant departments. The commission consists of three vice premiers and a dozen ministerial-level officials.

In 2008, China's food industry suffered a heavy blow when milk products were found to contain dangerous levels of melamine, an industrial chemical that makes milk appear to be higher in protein. The toxic milk killed at least six babies and sickened 300,000 others across the country.

In addition to launching serious investigations into the enterprises' violations and officials' conduct, the government should encourage the public to report violations by offering awards, experts suggested.