Credit System Is Critical to Food Safety Problem

ing on only one aspect; instead the government needs to develop a comprehensive concept of governing by the whole society， which means joint governance by the government， as well as businesses， non-government organizations， communities， through legal， market， consultation， administration and other means in the modern society with diversified interests and parties. Therefore， to crack down on tainted eats， we should not only restraint the power of producers， watchdogs， distributors etc and make relevant laws， but also invite social forces to participate in the supervision of food safety. We should pay more attention to the development to the latter aspect.The problem of over-departments in the field of supervision has been in existence for long. These disparate departments share oversight without cooperation， and shift responsibility onto each other in time of scandals. Mr. Tang thinks the responsibilities and functions of various departments must be defined clearly in law， so be the procedure of determining accountability. Then a cross-department supervision organ may be established to coordinate and regulate food safety along the chain and eliminate the possibility of shirking responsibility and shifting the blame onto others by departments. In particular， negligence and misconduct of supervision departments shall be defined clearly. In case of major food safety incident， personnel in charge should be punished. We can draw lessons from some western countries， where relevant officials， ranging from the Minster of Health to the persons in charge with supervision departments， must be held responsible for major food safety incidents and step down.Li Shuguang， Director of Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene， School of Public Health， Fudan Uviversity believed that although supervision departments were definitely responsible for the food safety sandals， it’s also true that China did not have enough enforcement agents. For example， there are thousands of firms in Shanghai with only tens of food inspectors for each district. Therefore， food safety cannot be assured by regulation， but rather by the self-restraint of food companies to a larger extent. This calls for severe punishment of the law on wayward food companies， which would be the“sword of Damocles” on the head of producers. In the same manner legislation should contain punishment on major food distributors like supermarkets for their illegal acts. It was learnt that in time of serious food safety incidents in the American history， the United States government successfully responded by imposing harsh punishment.Government’s capacity is limited in the complicated modern society. Therefore the government should welcome and promote the involvement of non-government sectors in the settlement of food safety problems and design relevant system to facilitate their participation.Tang Xianxing deems that， to fight against the illegal use of additives in food， industry associations should be supported to make industry standards and regulate the selfrestraint of companies. It’s a pity， however， that by far the industry associations have been making limited contributions. Besides， the role played by news media in food safety supervision should be paid great attention to. Nowadays governing by media has been dubbed as “media-governance”. Media agencies can cooperate with food safety research institutes in universities and timely publish information on food safety released by authoritative research institutes so as to place pressure on supervision departments to improve their work.However， Xiong Yihan， a young political scientist from Fudan University， regards that currently most nongovernmental organizations in China are engaged in environmental protection， poverty alleviation， or education. What’s more， supervision on food safety is a key function of administration departments and involves many interests. Therefore relevant departments are probably unwilling to cooperate with civil society organizations. In the industrial age， food needs to be fake to some extent， so as to ensure a steady supply. This started from the traditional canning industry. Preservatives are necessary for the making of canned food. The artificially-colored steamed buns sold in Shanghai caught wide public attention not only because the incident was reported by CCTV but also because it happed in Shanghai， the most developed city in China.The fact that Shanghai is the oldest modern city in China and believed to be the country’s No.1 in terms of city management， civilization， and quality of life， makes it only more appalling that tainted food such as steamed buns are sold and unknowingly eaten by people.It was reported that some steamed buns sold in Shanghai were tainted with cyclamate， potassium sorbate and color agents. The company in question was also found to have processed and labeled steamed buns that have expired before re-selling them. The person in charge of the company denied having re-sold expired steamed buns but admitted to having used additives. This is because it is illegal to re-sell expired steamed buns， but adding additives， which worry a lot people when seeing it on TV， has already been one of the basic processes of modern food production.To some extent， modern food industry has changed our lives. Nowadays， it is fair to say that we are not eating real food but simulated commodities. Chemical additives have become basic raw materials of food， simulating the taste， smell and color of real food. Sometimes， there is not even a need to add real raw food materials. For example， corns don’t have to be used in the making of corn steamed buns. Citrine color agents can do the job just as well. To make it better， artificial fragrance， like the lemon fragrance commonly used to make lemon soda， can be added to make it smell like real corn steamed bun.To some extent， food has become a kind of simulated reality just like the cyber virtual reality we all know. Simulated food uses chemical additives that simulate the smell， flavor， color， texture， taste， shape of real food， and are sometimes better than real food. The food industry can evolve into an industry of chemical synthesis. In the industrial age， food needs to be fake in a certain degree， so as to ensure a steady supply. This started from the traditional canning industry. Preservatives are necessary for the making of canned food. The artificially-colored steamed buns sold in Shanghai caught wide public attention not only because the incident was reported by CCTV but also because it happed it happened in Shanghai， the most developed city in China.Nowadays， food or simulated food is backed not only by better simulation technology but also by a more complete business system. Technological progress produces artificial food fragrance that improves the taste and fragrance of practically all dishes， clenbuterol that makes substandard meat look better than the real meat， melamine that makes poised milk contain more protein than the real milk， and many other kinds of additives.Modern market system involves every one. The natural economy no longer exists. Even small farmers in the countryside can not be selfsufficient. They only grow one or a few kinds of food. Food and vegetable-growing， pig rearing， and all the other forms of production have been professionalized. In cities， people buy processed or semi-processed food from vegetable markets， delicatessen shops， bakeries， supermarkets， etc. The kitchen is becoming a place only for heating the food. Besides， people dine in restaurants more often.Being part of the modern market system， people can’t make what they eat， nor do they need to. The modern market system leads to the socialization of labor by means of labor division， so as to enhance the efficiency of production. Under such a system， we buy food products rather than make food for ourselves. In academic terms， we don’t need to be physically present to get life necessities. That’s why the market system needs to have credit.We feel safe eating because we believe what we have bought is clean even though we haven’t seen it being made. The reason why we think so is that we believe food regulations， basic health awareness， the morality of food manufacturers， and the pursuit of high quality by manufacturers as a result of competition would ensure high food quality. However， the truth is， they may not be present when the food is being made.This is how food producers comment on their products. “I would rather starve to death than eat them.” Producers of all kinds of food such as grains， vegetables， fruits， processed food， and snacks have said so. They eat grain or vegetables specially grown for their own. Now we have to make ourselves believe that the food we eat are safe so as to feel comfortable eating. We don’t even want to see the food being made.People are still calling for stronger regulation. It is indeed very important to strengthen regulation. We need to guard against the negligence and abuse of power by the regulators. However， regulation has limited effects. Modern commerce exists everywhere. It’s difficult to have a regulator physically present at every site of production. It is impossible to assign a quality supervisor to every site of food production and processing. The act of adding poison to food is still going on. The “Modern Bible” of money first has “liberated” people from moral responsibilities. Nowadays people are not ashamed of doing things unethical， but afraid of being caught.Therefore， to re-establish basic credit is the fundamental solution to the food safety problem and other problems affecting the social order in China.