Ssfer pork and milk in the city is being promised by the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration.

After back-to-back efforts on creating a from-farm-to-table tracing system for pork, the food authority announced yesterday it is to use bar codes to fully monitor animals throughout the breeding, slaughtering, sending and selling processes.

Pork sold in supermarkets, wholesale markets and retail stores will have tracing codes from March 1. Consumers can check the number on the code on a Website to see the source of the product.

Shanghai consumes about 10 million pigs each year on average, and 70 percent of the supply is from outside the city.

"By this means, we are able to trace the source of the pork despite the many circulation links," said administration official Gu Zhenhua.

The food authority also reminds citizens to ask for the tracing code when buying pork in wholesale markets, in which pork is sold separately from the tracing code.

Seven dairy processing enterprises in the city are joining forces to clamp down on antibiotics in milk sold in the city. Some enterprises say they will add quality clauses in the buying contract that will prevent raw milk with antibiotics entering the milk supply.

Large enterprises such as the Bright Dairy & Food Co Ltd, China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd say they will expand self-sufficient dairy farms to enlarge production of non-antibiotics milk.

The Dairy Quality Supervision and Inspection Bureau of Shanghai joined as the third party professional organization in the activity led by Shanghai Dairy Association which began last year.

"The monitoring organization plays a vital role in the activity on drawing up a uniform standard and reducing the conflict between enterprises and farmers," said Zhang Huafu, deputy general manager of Bright Dairy & Food Co Ltd.

Last year, the organization expanded the monitored antibiotics from four to 15. The qualified rate on antibiotics residues climbed from 99.56 percent in 2006 to 100 percent in 2007.

(Shanghai Daily March 14, 2008)