For price considerations at least, poorer people consume less expensive goods. However, it is their right to be provided with qualified goods.

This has become an issue because rural residents do not have access to quality-assured food, according to a Ministry of Commerce report.

The report, which was drafted on the basis of surveys and investigations into rural food circulation, presents a troubling picture of the food safety situation in the countryside.

Because of the demand for low-priced products, and loose supervision and law enforcement, substandard products are rampant in some places.

In the rural market, 46.1 per cent of food products are sold by highly mobile peddlers, 23.8 percent of food packages are without explicit best-before dates, and 19.2 percent of shops sell expired food. Many food items are sold in bulk.

Cities have strengthened safety standards in recent years as public health awareness has continued to increase. As the report indicates, however, the rural market remains largely a grey area unprotected by the nation's updated food safety supervision network.

In the wake of the fake milk incident last year, in which 12 babies died after eating substandard milk powder in Fuyang, east China's Anhui Province, the State has conducted a series of food safety checks in rural markets. Now it is clear we still need to figure out new and more effective measures to better protect our rural citizens.

The investigative report shows that although most of the respondents care about food safety, 43.7 percent said price is their No 1 consideration.

Farmers' consumption style, which favours low prices rather than high quality, is cited as a major reason for the high number of unqualified products in the rural market. But before we point our fingers, we are obliged to see how such a price-centred mentality has been formed.

Consumers generally care for both price and quality, among other factors, when purchasing goods. But higher quality often means higher costs. When income becomes a crucial restraint, price can easily become the primary factor for decision-making at the sacrifice of other functions of a commodity.

Income restraint is a reality for rural residents. Given the huge income gap about three times between urban and rural areas, it is no surprise that farmers often make do with products of poor quality.

Their consumption mentality does need to be enhanced, but more necessary is a substantial improvement in their purchasing power.

Loose law enforcement and dereliction of local quality supervisors have certainly worsened the situation. But a self-awakening from rural consumers, backed up by heavier pockets, will help clean the market.

The State has attached importance to improving the rural consumption environment in recent years. But pitifully, measures taken so far are mainly focused on maintenance of market order, a peripheral concern.

Raising the income levels of farmers is top of the government's agenda. In the first three quarters, farmers saw their income grow by 11.5 percent year-on-year. Such a rapid growth rate, however, cannot bridge the yawning income gap in the immediate future. It will remain a long-term challenge.

Access to healthy food and qualified products are rights of all citizens. Rural residents are facing potential dangers in this respect. The government is responsible for helping them avoid these hazards and protecting their rights.

(China Daily November 17, 2005)