Food safety is top item on the menu

Temptation. It wasn't a chunky wedge of rich, dark chocolate cake. Or a juicy, marbled slab of medium rare Wagyu tenderloin or even a deep fried onion blossom fat-bomb.

Floating inside the thick glass jar were small cubes of fermented tofu. My fork speared a square and dropped it into the bowl of rice porridge. A swirl of red-flecked slime rose to the surface. Bits of black gelatinous preserved eggs popped up as I stirred and the distinctive scent of sulfur and ammonia wafted up. I knew I was taking a risk eating it - was this the menu for a proverbial "last meal" or the ingredients that would make it so?

A recent poll showed 73 percent of respondents felt food safety in China was suspect. A further 27 percent viewed it as extremely unsafe. The majority of those surveyed said they believed the danger comes mainly during the unregulated production and processing of domestic foods.