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Preemptive checks will monitor food

Source: Xinhua | January 1, 2009, Thursday | Print Edition

A SENIOR health official said yesterday that China will set up a "preemptive" monitoring system to improve food safety in China.

"It means we will try to get rid of food problems with early detection, early warning and early intervention," said Su Zhi, deputy general director of the Health Inspection and Supervision Center under the Ministry of Health.

Illegal chemicals added to food have led to major food scares in China. Despite frequent government crackdowns, illegal substances remained threats in some foods.

In the latest scandal, milk powder and other dairy products containing the industrial chemical melamine killed six infants and made more than 294,000 sick.

Su said the preemptive system will include a monitoring network on food manufacturing and distribution, with a focus on food additives and chemical substances.

"Companies must list what they've added to food products. Except for food additives, it is illegal to add any other non-food substances, whether they are harmful or not," he told the Xinhua news agency.

The system will also include a monitoring network on food-borne diseases, blacklists of illegal food additives and a transparent reporting system, Su said.

He added that the preemptive approach, proposed by China's Health Minister Chen Zhu, was based on lessons learnt from the dairy scandal.

"We used to rely on crackdowns (to solve food problems)," he said. "But now we are combining punishment with prevention, with more stress on the latter."

On December 15, the Ministry of Health published a blacklist of 17 chemical substances that cannot be added to food, including melamine and the cancer-causing industrial dye "sudan red," used to color egg yolks.

Su said the ministry will continue to blacklist illegal additives. "The purpose is to encourage public supervision," he said.

China has approved 1,812 types of food additives, including 1,528 spices and 149 food processing materials, according to regulations released in June.


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