Street food can leave a bad taste, say officials
By Cai Wenjun |
December 30, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TASTY snacks offered by street vendors may be tempting, but most outlets are unlicensed and use questionable ingredients, warned Shanghai Food and Drug Administration yesterday.
The advice came as the agency found many problems with food safety in a recent survey of these eateries.
Shanghai has at least 10,000 mobile food stalls, but few can meet requirements for an eatery license under the new Food Safety Law enacted in June 2009.
In a survey of 650 food stalls in October, the Shanghai FDA found that only 15 stalls had business licenses and only 16 had eatery licenses.
Only 106 vendors had a health license and 486 were found to touch cash directly.
As a response, local authorities said they will step up the regulation of street stalls, perennially popular sources of cheap breakfasts and nighttime snacks.
Based on the national law, Shanghai FDA and other groups have drafted new citywide regulations.
Local governments have the authority to create detailed regulations on small food processors and street food stalls, explained Gu Zhenhua, director of Shanghai FDA's food supervision department.
The draft regulations are being considered by city legislators and expected to take effect as early as the second half of next year, according to Shanghai People's Congress, the city legislature.
"The local regulations will introduce practical management of these stalls, instead of driving them away," Gu said.
"We want to regulate the location, working times and food sold at these stalls. They must also register with the subdistrict."
Gu said FDA officials will keep vendors on their radar to ensure food safety.
"Stall-holders must keep simple records, including hand-written receipts from raw material sellers, so we can trace sources if there are cases of food poisoning," Gu said. "If laws have been broken by suppliers, we can punish them."
For small food-processing business, the draft states that manufacturers must include on packaging the food name, production date, shelf life, reservation condition, name and address of the manufacturer and list raw materials, ingredients and food additives.
The advice came as the agency found many problems with food safety in a recent survey of these eateries.
Shanghai has at least 10,000 mobile food stalls, but few can meet requirements for an eatery license under the new Food Safety Law enacted in June 2009.
In a survey of 650 food stalls in October, the Shanghai FDA found that only 15 stalls had business licenses and only 16 had eatery licenses.
Only 106 vendors had a health license and 486 were found to touch cash directly.
As a response, local authorities said they will step up the regulation of street stalls, perennially popular sources of cheap breakfasts and nighttime snacks.
Based on the national law, Shanghai FDA and other groups have drafted new citywide regulations.
Local governments have the authority to create detailed regulations on small food processors and street food stalls, explained Gu Zhenhua, director of Shanghai FDA's food supervision department.
The draft regulations are being considered by city legislators and expected to take effect as early as the second half of next year, according to Shanghai People's Congress, the city legislature.
"The local regulations will introduce practical management of these stalls, instead of driving them away," Gu said.
"We want to regulate the location, working times and food sold at these stalls. They must also register with the subdistrict."
Gu said FDA officials will keep vendors on their radar to ensure food safety.
"Stall-holders must keep simple records, including hand-written receipts from raw material sellers, so we can trace sources if there are cases of food poisoning," Gu said. "If laws have been broken by suppliers, we can punish them."
For small food-processing business, the draft states that manufacturers must include on packaging the food name, production date, shelf life, reservation condition, name and address of the manufacturer and list raw materials, ingredients and food additives.
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