Ensuring food safety must be a priority
By Wang Hui (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-05-22 08:10

When Zheng Xiaoyu, head of the State Food and Drug Administration, confessed in a CCTV interview that he worries when enjoying food, we know he was neither joking nor making alarmist talk.

More and more people now share Zheng's worries as a series of hurdles and even disasters ignited by substandard and poisonous foodstuffs hit the country one after another recently.

In the unfinished scenario, the event of the "killer" milk powder first found in Fuyang, East China's Anhui Province, took centre stage.

Initial investigation shows the case involves 40 milk powder producers in 10 provinces. So far, 12 infants have died of malnutrition after being fed with fake milk powder, and 229 other babies are suffering nutritional deficiencies due to substandard milk powders.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who has impressed the outside world with his willingness to share the wail and woes of ordinary people, issued orders to concerned departments, urging them to launch thorough investigation and mete out severe punishment to the perpetrators.

As if to prove the old Chinese saying that misfortunes never come singly, while the offenders in the fatal milk powder case were being rounded up, the incident of "poisonous" alcohol erupted in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, in which 11 people died after drinking fake spirit sold at rural markets. The liquor turned out to be slightly-diluted industrial alcohol.

Sadly, stories of inferior foodstuff are far from finished.

As efforts to inspect food quality go deeper, more problematic foodstuffs have been disclosed nationwide. All of a sudden, poisonous or substandard foods ranging from vegetables to aquatic products are making headlines.

The discoveries fueled many people's worries about food safety as they found their favourite foodstuffs have appeared one after another on the blacklist.

While over-reaction to the food problems is unnecessary, enhanced awareness on food safety and possible measures such as selecting foodstuffs more carefully and choosing them from trustworthy producers are recommendable for consumers to protect their own interests, or to be specific, their health.

It might be difficult to tell the exact time when food safety began to catch the attention of both the government and ordinary people, though some experts point out that food safety began to carry real meaning about 10 years ago.

Nevertheless, it is still safe to make two judgments: It is the desire for quick profit that has pushed some people including enterprises into making shoddy products, and institutional loopholes and ineffective supervision have encouraged the counterfeiters.

In the Fuyang shoddy milk powder case, both legal enterprises and underground workshops run by individuals were involved. In their wild pursuit of profits, these lawbreakers produced "milk powder" by mixing starch, sugar, milk essence and other cheap non-nutritious ingredients.

The Fuyang case also reflects the urgency in setting up a long-term mechanism that can guarantee food safety effectively.

Even Zheng acknowledged the country lacks an effective mechanism to deal with food safety problems.

As always, nationwide inspections on food quality have been called for to curb the spread of shoddy foodstuffs. But resorting to launching a national movement has long been a choice of the authorities when prescribing remedies to regional and national woes.

Past experience shows such practice is rarely effective as it often becomes a lasting game of hide-and-seek between offenders and inspectors.

The new round of food quality hazards has also triggered discussions on falling social morals.

While it might be too cynical as well as unfair as to say the moral framework of the entire nation is collapsing, it is undeniable that virtues such as being honest and trustworthy are disappearing from the beliefs of many people.

Moral degradation certainly becomes more conspicuous in the "killer" milk powder producers, for they put money above law, regulations and people's health.

The food safety crisis is a timely warning to the entire nation that while the country's economic growth continues to impress the world, there is still a long way to go before all market activities come under the sphere of law and moral standards.

Today fewer and fewer people doubt China's ability to feed the world's largest population. However, authorities at different levels should be mindful of the fact that economic growth alone will not necessarily guarantee the country's realization of a well-off society.

As long as people's worries about food safety cannot be brushed aside, achieving a happy and healthy life for all Chinese citizens remains a daunting task.



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