Making food safe

Top food safety officials admitted on Thursday that a lot needed to be done to meet people's expectations. The message is that the food safety system needs to be fixed.

An official of the State Council Food Safety Commission said the chain to guarantee food safety was very long and comprised many departments whose responsibilities were not clearly defined. He admitted, too, that at times some food safety watchdogs bend the law for personal gains.

Though he claimed that the overall food safety situation was stable, repeated press conferences organized by the State Council speak volumes of the importance the central government attaches to food safety and show that a lot more can be done.