In China today, it's not unsual to see someone carrying vegetables home, where they will soak them in clean water (for at least half an hour) before cooking them. According to specialists, this is a good way to eliminate residual chemicals.
October 1995 witnessed the implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Food Quarantine, which standardized food production and marketing, and protects consumers. However, standards in this law are not perfectly compatible with the latest international standards for food. The Chinese government and its people have shown great concern for minimizing and controlling food pollution from the very beginning of production.
In May 2002, the General Administration of Quality Provision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQPIQ) established a Quality Safety (QS) system, according to which five kinds of food-rice, wheat flour, cooking oil, soy sauce, and vinegar-are not allowed to be sold on the market unless they pass QS requirements. Under such an umbrella, 5,020 manufacturers of these products are granted QS certificates. Today, the products at the market are all labeled with QS. According to the GAQPIQ, the QS system will be completely initiated by the end of 2003.
Beginning with the third quarter of 2003, the GAQPIQ will carry out another system to control the quality of 10 kinds of food before they reach the shelves: meat, dairy products, beverages, spices and other ingredients, frozen drinks, instant noodles, biscuits, canned foods, instant-frozen flour and rice, and dilated food such as popcorn. An additional 15 out of 28 classified food types undergo a strict quality control system before reaching the market. The QS authentication system is obviously being enforced, making China one of the few countries that implement a strict quality control system for food through legal means. The Chinese government plans to spend three to five years initiating a quality control system for all food so that consumers no longer have to worry about what they eat.
Moreover, more than 10 functional departments under the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Public Health, and the State Food and Drug Administration have devised additional plans, such as the Non-Pollution Food Action Plan, the Food and Drug Carefree Campaign, and the Food Manufacturer's HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) Authentication. These measures have built a defense perimeter around the dinner table.
Regarding the genetically-altered food that has aroused world attention, on March 20, 2002, the Chinese government put in place a system for labeling such food in accordance with the UN's Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, thus providing consumers with the right to know what they are eating. To this end, the Ministry of Agriculture has founded a special office to supervise genetically-altered food on the market. A recent survey shows that all genetically-altered food on the market has obtained government permission. However, some of the labels do not meet standards.
(China Pictorial October 24, 2003)
