A nationwide inspection of the food-production industry has
uncovered the use of a wide range of illegal ingredients in the
processing of foodstuffs, the top quality watchdog said
yesterday.
Industrial raw materials, such as dyes, mineral oils, paraffin
wax, formaldehyde and the carcinogenic malachite green, have been
used in the production of flour, candy, pickles, biscuits, black
fungus, melon seeds, bean curd and seafood.
Some processors also use recycled or expired food in their
operations, according to the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
"These are not isolated cases," Han Yi, director of the
administration's quality control and inspection department, said at
a press conference.
He said most of the cases involved small, unlicensed
food-processing plants employing less than 10 people. All plants
caught engaging in illegal practices have been shut down, he
added.
Administration figures show that about 75 percent of the 1
million food-processing plants in the country are small and
privately owned.
Preliminary figures released yesterday show that since December,
when the nationwide inspection was launched, quality inspectors
have seized 200 million yuan (US$26 million) worth of contaminated
or substandard foodstuffs.
At least 180 food plants have been shut down, and 37 had their
licenses revoked. Eleven cases have been handed over to judicial
organs.
Han said the inspection, which has been focusing on widely
consumed foodstuffs, like wine, meat, milk, beverages, soy sauce
and cooking oil, is not finished. Rural areas and the suburbs are
still considered key areas for inspectors.
Scandals involving substandard food were the subject of many
media reports last year. Red-yolk salted duck eggs contaminated
with an industrial dye and turbot fish containing carcinogenic
residue were two of the more high-profile incidents.
The issue burst into the international spotlight this year after
melamine-contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein exported from
China tainted pet food in North America.
Han said the administration always puts food safety first and
had shown no mercy to violators.
Both the Food Hygiene Law and the Criminal Law ban the use of
chemical ingredients or harmful substance in food production.
Violators who cause serious poisoning or death face sentences of at
least 10 years in jail or even death.
However, Ye Zhihua, a senior researcher of quality standards and
testing technology with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, worried that the country's many small food plants and
inadequate number of enforcement officers could hamper the
inspection.
Ye said such small businesses, which usually have poor
management and sanitary conditions, are scattered across the
country, making supervision difficult.
(China Daily June 27, 2007)