China Launches Great Initiatives against Food Safety Issue

China is launching its greatest initia- tive against the recurrent food safety issue， one of the most determined efforts China has exercised in dealing with the public concerned food safety issue ever.Li Keqiang， vice premier of the State Council， raised his hope that people from all walks of life could be actively engaged into this initiative and create with joint efforts a good environment for concerning about， supporting and maintaining the food safety.The central government showed its strenuous effort in dealing with the food safety issue. On February 6 last year， China set up for the first time the Food Safety Committee， a seniorlevel counseling and coordinating authority for food safety work， with its members from 15 out of 29 ministries and commissions under the State Council.The Ministry of Agriculture， the Ministry of Health， the Central Administration of Quality Supervision， Inspection and Quarantine， the Central Administration of Commerce and Industry Management， State Food and Drug Administration and other related departments have coordinated joint efforts to inspect and eliminate problems and potential risks in food safety. Local governments in Beijing， Shanghai， Zhejiang and Guangdong have included the food safety work into the performance evaluation of leading officials.China is also revising its existing rules and regulations based on the Food Safety Law， to enhance its food safety standard system.Last month， China published the “Food Safety Publicity and Education Work Brief(2010-2015)”， requesting all food business players to receive concentrated trainings for no less than 40 hours each year about food safety law and regulation， scientific knowledge and industrial moral code， and each food safety supervisor and monitor should also receive no less than 40 hours’ concentrated training each year; to establish a long-term mechanism about food safety publicity and education work.The Chinese government also metered out yearlong strict punishments on illicit food producers for violations of law. Law enforcement authorities also strengthened their efforts to investigate and punish acts threatening food safety and duty-related crimes. People accountable for serious food-related accidental death will face extreme penalties.Xu Yaotong， professor of politics from the Chinese Academy of Governance， said that China is taking systematic measures against food safety issues， and it is estimated that additional measures will come into force as the new food safety situation requires.“This also indicates that China does not take food safety problem as transient or local， but one of the most risky challenges confronting our society， which may impact the future of our country，” said Xu.Zhang Yongjian， principal of the Food and Pharmacy Industry Development and Supervision Center of the Chinese Academy of Science， pointed out that the frequent food-related accidents should never be overlooked， whose baneful impacts would be wide and profound if there is no fundamental solution. These accidents may even increase the social costs， lay a heavier burden on household medical health， and incur losses of the human resources.The abusive use of food additives， including inedible chemical supplements， also causes great worries in China. The 2008 “milk power melamine incident” is one of the most illustrative examples.Zhang Yongjian said that the damages of bad food to human bodies might be instant， but also possibly lurking for years or several generations. For example， a lot of international research has proved the link between many unexplained modern diseases and the food safety problem.“The food mutation triggered by chemical elements might degrade human intellect， physi- cal status and also lead to the disorder of the reproductive genetic system，” said Chen Zhaodian， director of urinary surgical departments of Zhejiang First Hospital.The healthy status of the Chinese male sperms is also deteriorating year by year. The percentage of “Infertility” on the part of males has risen to 12%. Research shows that this is closely related to extrinsic chemicals added to the food.Another warning signal is that the impact of bad food on the Chinese children is also increasingly significant. For example， the milk powder melamine incident had caused damages to more than 300，000 children’s health.Wang Wenzhang， professor from the Social Science Institute of Peking University， warned that the food safety， like many nontraditional safeties including energy safety and environmental safety， will obstruct the Chinese social and economic development process or even put the brakes on the Chinese modernization once it spins out of control.A look into the world history may tell us that China is not the country that suffering the most serious food safety problems， and many developed countries had once met similar problems during their development process. Wang Wenzhang commented that “the positive thing is that the Chinese government does not shirk the responsibility by giving excuses， but take full measures against existing problems.”