National safety system to push tainted food off shelves

Authorities are directing unprecedented resources at setting up its first national food safety risk assessment system, following a spate of tainted food incidents in recent years, officials said on Friday.

The system includes a national committee, special regulation and food safety assessment offices nationwide, said Deputy Health Minister Chen Xiaohong at the China Food Safety Forum 2009 in Beijing. Chen did not give a specific timeline for the system but said "it would be implemented very soon".

National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety senior researcher Chen Junshi said the latest system would be a "progressive improvement" to the new Food Safety Law that came into effect this month.