Food testing top priority

"Top priority" is the expression President Hu Jintao used when referring to the quality of food testing during his visit to Tianjin municipality. It points directly to the root cause of the country's food safety problems.

The failure on the part of food safety watchdogs to give the issue the same weight has been exposed as one of the major reasons why low quality, tainted, or adulterated food can make its way onto residents' dining tables.

Clearly those who add banned chemicals into the food they produce should be brought to justice. In the latest case, 14 criminals were sentenced to different prison terms for their part in the production of tainted powdered milk or baby formulas in North China's Shanxi and Hebei provinces on Friday.