China cracks down on food additives
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
April 25, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Chinese government has ordered food companies to keep clear and intact records of all their production and selling operations as part of the efforts to prevent the illegal use of food additives.
All food manufacturing and management companies must examine all products in stock for any trace of illegal food additives and keep records of the results in accordance with laws and regulations, according to a circular released by the food safety committee under the State Council yesterday.
The circular came days after Vice Premier Li Keqiang warned of the great harm from illegal additives in food, promising "a firm attitude, iron-hand measures and more efforts" in dealing with the problem.
Companies that fail to keep genuine records and documents will be ordered to reform, and those providing fake records and certificates will have their operations suspended and be punished accordingly, said the circular.
The circular said it was strictly forbidden to produce and sell non-edible materials that are likely to be used in food production without official certificates, and authorized production companies of these materials must adopt a real-name selling system.
These materials, including those banned in animal feed and drinking water, should not be sold to food and feed companies, the circular added.
A series of food safety scandals has emerged in China recently.
In one of the latest cases, steamed buns in Shanghai were reported to have been dyed, sold past their expiry dates, or laced with coloring additives to mislead consumers.
And yesterday, it was reported that nearly 20 premises were found producing fake sweet potato glass noodles using illegal additives which even included Chinese ink.
The Guangzhou Daily in Guangdong Province said that local authorities had launched inspections of all producers of glass noodles as a result.
A large amount of corn flour and unlabeled buckets of black liquid which workers were unable to name was found at the workshops, the newspaper said.
The crackdown at the workshops in Dongguan City came after 5,000 kilograms of dyed sweet potato glass noodles were discovered at a factory in Guangdong's Zhongshan City last Friday.
Sweet potato glass noodles, used in suanlafen and malatang, two popular Sichuan dishes, are dark in color but transparent and should be made with sweet potato flour.
The Guangdong factories chose cheaper corn flour and, to create the color, added Chinese ink, paraffin wax, light green dye and other chemicals, all additives which are banned, the report said.
All food manufacturing and management companies must examine all products in stock for any trace of illegal food additives and keep records of the results in accordance with laws and regulations, according to a circular released by the food safety committee under the State Council yesterday.
The circular came days after Vice Premier Li Keqiang warned of the great harm from illegal additives in food, promising "a firm attitude, iron-hand measures and more efforts" in dealing with the problem.
Companies that fail to keep genuine records and documents will be ordered to reform, and those providing fake records and certificates will have their operations suspended and be punished accordingly, said the circular.
The circular said it was strictly forbidden to produce and sell non-edible materials that are likely to be used in food production without official certificates, and authorized production companies of these materials must adopt a real-name selling system.
These materials, including those banned in animal feed and drinking water, should not be sold to food and feed companies, the circular added.
A series of food safety scandals has emerged in China recently.
In one of the latest cases, steamed buns in Shanghai were reported to have been dyed, sold past their expiry dates, or laced with coloring additives to mislead consumers.
And yesterday, it was reported that nearly 20 premises were found producing fake sweet potato glass noodles using illegal additives which even included Chinese ink.
The Guangzhou Daily in Guangdong Province said that local authorities had launched inspections of all producers of glass noodles as a result.
A large amount of corn flour and unlabeled buckets of black liquid which workers were unable to name was found at the workshops, the newspaper said.
The crackdown at the workshops in Dongguan City came after 5,000 kilograms of dyed sweet potato glass noodles were discovered at a factory in Guangdong's Zhongshan City last Friday.
Sweet potato glass noodles, used in suanlafen and malatang, two popular Sichuan dishes, are dark in color but transparent and should be made with sweet potato flour.
The Guangdong factories chose cheaper corn flour and, to create the color, added Chinese ink, paraffin wax, light green dye and other chemicals, all additives which are banned, the report said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
