Getting to grips with food safety
Food security is the abiding concern of many countries - few more so than China, with a fifth of the world's population. Come storm, flood or drought, the first concern after life and property can be the impact on crops, food supplies, consumer prices - and inflation. Food safety, on the other hand, is a government responsibility in good times or bad. Amid the 90th anniversary celebrations of the Communist Party, a high-level report urging it to make food safety a national security issue along with food security tended to slip under the radar.
Top lawmakers who conducted a national inspection of compliance with the Food Safety Law uncovered stomach-turning shortcomings, including dirty and dishonest food-handling by manufacturers, and dereliction of duty by governments charged with implementing the law. NPC standing committee vice-chairman Lu Yongxiang said they found a lack of understanding of the law. In the wake of the deaths and injuries caused by melamine-tainted baby milk and other food-safety scandals that have tarnished China's brand image, the party and government should take the lawmakers' suggestion seriously. Confidence in food safety goes to the heart of social stability, which President Hu Jintao said was a critical task for the party in his anniversary address in the Great Hall of the People.
If officials in Beijing want more detail, they could refer to an interview with a food-safety activist published in the Sunday Morning Post, and a website he has launched to heighten public awareness and spur officials to take food safety more seriously. He was inspired by the discovery that he had been eating pork mixed with beef flavouring, thinking it was beef. Other examples he and volunteers have compiled do not make appetising reading either.
Hu also cited corruption as a dire threat to the goals of continued economic growth and social stability. No doubt it plays a part in disregard for food safety laws. Rapid economic development creates a tempting environment for unscrupulous businessmen and officials. Beijing must make food handling a no-go area for the corrupt and the greedy. As a starting point, the inspection committee called on the State Council to better co-ordinate agencies involved with food safety and for tougher controls during the initial stage of food processing.
In November, ironically, China will host an international food safety and quality conference and expo for regulators and industry. In a mission statement, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, head of the State Council's National Food Safety commission, says: 'We must create a food safety system of self-disciplined food companies with integrity, effective government supervision and broad public support to improve overall food safety.' Hopefully the conference will raise awareness of the need for officials to practise what they preach.
