The lack of supervision over the usage of chemicals has caused their abuse and subsequent food safety incidents in China, an expert said.

Wei Fusheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, made the remarks on the sidelines of an academic report conference last week concerning the inspection and quarantine issues.

As there are tens of thousands of chemicals on the market, the government should institute strict oversight, including a risk assessment on new chemicals entering the market to regulate their usages, Wei said.

"Otherwise, food producers would add these chemicals as long as they can preserve and improve the flavor of their food products," he said.

He said that the government's supervision over the usage of chemicals often involves tens of departments that share only a fraction of the responsibility respectively and fail to match the current situation.

China's food safety has become a major public concern since a nationwide tainted milk powder scandal was exposed in August 2008.