China regulator to strengthen ‘grim’ food, drug safety control

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Food and drug safety in China is “grim” and will get stronger oversight, the food and drug regulator said on Wednesday, after a series of scares last year hit the reputations of global firms such as McDonald’s Corp and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The China Food and Drug Administration has struggled to control a string of high-profile scandals over the years, from donkey meat products tainted with fox, heavy metals in baby food and allegations of expired meat sold to fast-food chains.

“We must soberly recognise the current foundations of China’s food and drug safety are still weak, with new and old risks together creating a grim situation,” the regulator said in a statement on its website after a meeting in Beijing this week.

China will increase “active” regulation to prevent food and drug safety scares, with more on-site inspections, random tests and unannounced visits, the regulator said. The quality of personnel, legal structures, management methods and technological aspects were all currently insufficient, it said.

It’s what consumers do and why food safety should be marketed at retail: China goes organic amid food scandals

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Douglas Powell

An organic food craze is emerging among China’s urbanites as food safety scandals spur the younger generation toward alternative ways to buy fresh produce and meat.

So far, organic foods’ penetration into China appears small, accounting for 1.01 percent of total food consumption, but that’s nearly triple 2007’s 0.36 percent, according to data from organic trade fair Biofach.

A series of high-profile food scandals over the past seven years has been a primary catalyst for growth in the organic food market. Biofach expects the segment’s share of China’s overall food market to hit 2 percent this year.

China was ranked as one of the world’s worst safety-violation offenders by American food consulting firm Food Sentry this year. In 2013, 3,000 pig carcasses were seen floating in Shanghai’s Huangpu river, one of the city’s key sources of drinking water. A few months later, reports that a Beijing crime ring was selling rat and fox meat as lamb sparked international outrage, resulting in the arrest of more than 900 people.

The trouble continued in 2014, with the Chinese affiliate of U.S. meat supplier OSI Group accused of using expired meat. OSI caters to major fast-food chains such as McDonald’s and Yum Group’s KFC operating on the mainland. Wal-Mart was also dragged into the limelight this year following revelations that its donkey meat product contained fox meat. Most recently, Subway also came under scrutiny after Chinese media reported in late December that workers at a Beijing franchise changed expiry dates on meat and vegetables to extend their use.

The rise of organic food is also expected to draw support from government officials prioritizing nutrition and environment to spur domestic consumption in a country where focus has traditionally always been on industrial growth.

Chinese officials dismissed over diseased meat scandal

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Douglas Powell

China has dismissed eight officials after pork from pigs infected with a “highly contagious virus” was found to have entered the market, state media said Monday.

The country’s latest food scandal was revealed in an investigation by state broadcaster China Central Television which said the annual revenue of the tainted pork was more than 20 million yuan.

The meat had come from slaughterhouses in the city of Gaoan in central Jiangxi province and had entered at least seven provinces in total, said the report, which was first broadcast Saturday.

Food safety remains priority in age of organic food

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Even in an age when the consumption of organic food is booming, strict global food safety standards are needed to protect the consumers, a leading expert at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Mary Kenny, officer of FAO’s Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that the safety of all foodstuffs, including organic food, remains a global priority.

“It means that food should be safe and free from chemical and microbiological contaminants. And the nature of food supplies these days means that it’s an international issue,” she said.

With this in mind, major food producers and exporters, including China, are constantly raising food safety standards, Kenny said, adding that, however, it is unclear to what extent the emergence of organic food is impacting food safety in China or elsewhere.

According to Kenny, even organic food may present certain safety risks. Therefore, it is vital to make sure that the right systems are in place and that food production and distribution is as risk-free as possible.

She noted for example that although organically sourced fruit and vegetables might have a lower risk of chemical contamination, the correct procedures to prevent microbiological contamination still have to be followed. As for meat and dairy products produced from organically-fed animals, they still carry the inherent risk of bacteria or parasites, which occur naturally in livestock.

“So we need to adopt the same food safety perspective to organic food that we adopt to other foods,” she said.

The conventional wisdom is that organic food is healthier and more eco-friendly than other food. However, Kenny said this does not mean that conventional foods should automatically be dismissed as having a higher risk.

“Conventional food production certainly uses more chemicals, such as pesticides,” she said. “But there are very strong and robust national and international systems to ensure the safe use of these chemicals and these are followed around the world.”

Exploding poop topples building in China

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Douglas Powell

A cesspool filled with excrement has exploded in central China, injuring 15 people and knocking down a building, state-run media reported.

The blast was apparently sparked by a local man burning waste close to the cesspool, igniting methane gas which was emanating from the pit, the Xinhua news agency said late on Sunday, November 23.

The incident in Zhangjiajie city, in the central province of Hunan, caused a residential building to collapse and three of the injured had to be hospitalized, Xinhua said.

China’s urban infrastructure has often been hastily built with little regard for safety as hundreds of millions of people have moved from the countryside to cities in recent decades.

I have no idea what this means, but McDonald’s enlists orcs and elves to boost food safety in China

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Douglas Powell

McDonald’s Corp. is enlisting the orcs and elves of the World of Warcraft in its fight to win over Chinese consumers scared away by food safety scandals.

To entice younger customers, McDonald’s designed Warcraft- themed outlets and gave away virtual items such as magic turtles tied to the popular online role-playing game, its first cooperation in China with a computer game.

The effort comes as the world’s largest restaurant chain seeks to recover from a food scandal in July, when its main supplier in Shanghai was accused of selling expired meat, leading China sales to plunge 23 percent. The crisis embroiled Yum Brands’ KFC and other eateries, forcing the chains to pull items off menus as they rushed to find alternative suppliers.

“I know of McDonald’s supplier issues, but I wanted to try out the latest Warcraft game before its release,” said 21-year- old Li Jialiang, a Warcraft fanatic who endured a 12-hour train ride from central Henan province to visit one of the themed restaurants in Shanghai.

New Zealand to help Chinese food giant in safety

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Xinhua reports that China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), the country’s largest agricultural and food products supplier, has signed an agreement with a New Zealand government-owned food safety firm and a multinational business consultancy to improve China’s food safety and quality.

COFCO signed the agreement with food safety service firm AsureQuality and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on the sidelines of the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) leaders meeting in Beijing, said a statement from PwC’s New Zealand office on Monday.

Drawing on leading New Zealand and international food and agricultural models, AsureQuality and PwC would support COFCO in embedding best practice in food safety and quality across the food and agriculture industries.

AsureQuality claims to have 1,700 experts working in 60 locations in Australia, China and Singapore.

Wal-Mart to focus on food safety in China: High-tech or high-touch?

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is focusing on food safety as the world’s largest retailer aims to boost profitability of its more than 400 stores in China, Wal-Mart Asia chief executive Scott Price told Reuters.

“We play an important role in China delivering food safety and quality products to our customers,” Price said on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, which begins on Sunday. “It’s a differentiator.”

Price said the company would “continue to invest very aggressively” with a focus on food quality and safety to push up traffic to Wal-Mart’s Chinese stores.

Wal-Mart said in June it would increase its spending on food safety in China to 300 million yuan ($49 million) in 2013, 2014 and 2015, up from a previously-announced 100 million yuan.

“The ‘fresh’ experience is an area where we can differentiate. We are the only retailer in China that has 100 percent of our ‘fresh’ going through distribution centres,” he said.

“China is a big part of the future game,” Price added. Last year in October, Wal-Mart announced plans to open up to 110 new facilities in China between 2014 and 2016.

Frank Yiannas vice-president food safety, Walmart, will tell the Dubai food safety conference that food safety awareness is at an all-time high, the food system is becoming increasingly complex, and foodborne outbreaks continue to be reported. Despite the fact that we – as a profession – have conducted millions of microbiological tests, trained vast numbers of food workers, and conducted countless number of inspections at home and abroad, food safety remains a significant public health challenge. Why is that?

To advance food safety into the 21st century and further reduce the global burden of foodborne disease, there is no question about it, we need greater food safety innovations. However, there is considerable debate in the

profession on what and how exactly things need to change. For example, some food safety professionals believe that further reductions in foodborne disease hinge on science and technology, such as new detection methods, pathogen interventions, and new food production processes – often referred to as High Tech. Others, in contrast, believe that improvements in food safety are more dependent on highly skilled, motivated people and organizational cultures – referred to as High Touch.

US FDA will send more inspectors to China office

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Food safety is the responsibility of those who produce food.

Government is there to ensure minimal standards are met.

The best will always far exceed government standards.

But, countries need help, so the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will dispatch more inspectors to China to help ensure the quality of exports, making its China office the largest one overseas.

As early as next year, staff at the China office will be boosted to 21 from the current four, and nine of them will be responsible for food safety, said Christopher J. Hickey, FDA China director. Currently there are only two in food safety, while the rest are in charge of drugs and medical devices.

China is the fourth-largest exporter of food to the US.

Meanwhile, citing a globalized food and drug supply chain, China is also considering sending safety inspectors to the US, said Wu Yongning, chief scientist from the China National Center For Food Safety Risk Assessment.

Wu said that given China’s sheer size, the increase of US FDA inspectors would allow more on-site inspections of particularly high-risk producers.

Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration, said the staff increase is “important for us as that permits us to work more closely with our Chinese counterparts to become knowledgeable about practices here.”

“We can work with both the Chinese government and the industry to explain our requirements and provide trading support for those exporting to the U.S. to comply with our standards,” he said.

Priorities include agriculture, farm produce, seafood and animal drugs, he noted.

Villagers in China ordered to alert authorities if they hold outdoor banquets

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Villagers holding banquets with more than 40 guests in Zhoukou, Henan province, will have to inform the authorities in advance in a bid to combat food poisoning, it has been reported.

Some critics have said the new policy discriminated against rural residents while others warned it would be difficult to enforce and would have little impact, according to the Dahe Daily newspaper.

Holding outdoor banquets for occasions such as weddings and funerals is customary in rural China. The size of the feasts varies from a few dozen guests to several hundred. Now the authorities will keep records of rural communal banquets and send supervisors to ensure food safety, according to the new directive posted on the Zhoukou municipal government’s website.

The directive requires organisers to report the time and location of the banquet, number of guests and identity of the chefs to officials in charge of food safety one day before the event, if more than 40 guests are expected.

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