THE Year of the Dragon begins on January 23, and now is the time for many Chinese to do the pre-holiday shopping that will reward their families for a year of work.
However, 31-year-old Winnie, a new mother in Beijing, is uneasy and particular about buying food over fears of unsafe products.
“Sure, the product labels say they are safe and nutritious, but who actually knows?” she said, hinting at her disappointment with food producers as well as inspection authorities.
After years of food scandals – including melamine-tainted infant formula, pork adulterated with clenbuterol, and “swill” cooking oil recycled from leftovers in restaurant kitchens – China is finding it difficult to reassure the public about food safety.
China introduced a far-reaching food safety law in 2009 after a major scandal involving melamine-tainted infant formula killed at least six babies and sickened 300,000 others in 2008, sending chills throughout the nation. Two people were executed for their roles in the scandal.
But milk products contaminated by the toxic chemical have emerged again and again since the 2008 scandal, continuing to grab headlines.
According to a ministry regulation that took effect in April, China set the tolerable maximum of melamine in infant foods at 1 milligram per kilogram and other foods at 2.5 mg per kg, and banned the intentional addition of the chemical into food products.
Pork adulterated with the drug clenbuterol, illegally used in feed to produce more muscle and less fat, is also a recurring problem with a wide-reaching impact, as pork accounts for around two-thirds of the meat consumed by Chinese.
A major pork contamination scandal hit China this spring, prompting a crackdown on the illegal use of clenbuterol, which can cause heart palpitations and be fatal to humans.
Two main culprits, who made around US$1 million by producing and selling more than 2,700 kg of clenbuterol, were each given death sentences with reprieve and life imprisonment.
Of the 113 people penalized over the tainted pork scandal, 77 were government employees. They were held accountable for dereliction of duty and abuse of power in inspection practices.
In August, Chinese police launched a nationwide fight on gutter oil, or oil illegally made by reprocessing waste oil from restaurants, which is marketed and re-used as cooking oil by profiteers.
The latest official figures showed that 60,000 tons of suspicious oil had been recovered in the months-long campaign, during which 60 major illegal networks were broken up and more than 700 suspects arrested nationwide.
The health ministry is seeking public input for new ways to detect gutter oil, as some scholars have warned that profiteers are already sophisticated enough to fool inspection technology with their illegal wares.
In addition to national efforts to stamp out gutter oil sources, the ministry recently introduced a draft rule proposing a tracking system for the disposal of kitchen waste by catering businesses.
Chinese leaders have issued repeated calls for food safety. In a recent written instruction, Vice Premier Li Keqiang called for “more forceful measures” in fighting food safety crimes, a move intended to boost consumer confidence.
Roadside food vendors, small restaurants and a community-based pork shops all operate near Winnie’s home in the center of Beijing, but Winnie said her family seldom “ventures” to eat or buy meat in their neighborhood.
They prefer to walk about two blocks to eat in chain restaurants and buy food at a huge supermarket, which they believe are “relatively safer.”
Reasons and ways
Despite China’s escalating efforts to create a modern food inspection system, food safety remains a major public concern for many reasons.
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Food Safety Scandals Could Benefit Foreign Firm
With food safety concerns still dogging local enterprises, multinationals including Nestle and Danone look set to benefit, as Chinese consumers put more trust in foreign brands, Bloomberg reported.
Food safety has been big in the news again recently after regulators last month found toxins in milk produced by local dairy major Mengniu. Last year consumers were angered by the revelation that an additive meant to induce lean meat in had been found in products made by China’s top pork producer, Henan Shuanghui. And most still can’t forget the 2008 melamine scandal that killed six babies.
Consumers “will immediately shift to foreign brands when they learn about the Mengniu incident because they have stronger trust in overseas companies,” CSC Securities analyst Tracy Sun told Bloomberg. Jason Ding, vice president at management consultancy Roland Berger, said foreign brands are better at maintaining product safety, while for many local firms, quality has become a “secondary” concern.
Nestle has close to 100 people in testing and monitoring at its Shuangcheng factory, which it is expanding, and has a “very sophisticated” test capability in its factories, a company spokesman told Bloomberg. Food maker Heinz has started selling baby food in pouches, which are cheaper than jars, and expects sales to double during the next three years. Mead Johnson had a 12 per cent share of China’s milk formula market in 2010, and saw its China sales more than double from 2008-2012.
According to a China Market Research survey conducted last year, food and product safety is the biggest concern for consumers, ahead of medical care or education costs. “The food supply chain in China is a mess and smart companies will benefit by ensuring the best quality,” Jessica Lo, managing director at China Market Research, told Bloomberg.
While foreign companies can expect to gain market share in milk powder, baby food, and other similar product categories, local brands will dominate the liquid milk market despite safety concerns because it’s too expensive for foreign brands to import milk.
By Bei Hua
Source: Business Forum China
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Posted in Accidents & Scandals, Opinions
Tagged china food safety benefit MNC, foreign companies