With food poisoning and shoddy fake medicine cases frequently
reported to have caused deaths in China, the government is expected
to issue a comprehensive plan to track and trace food products.
According to an ongoing national conference on standardizing
market economic order, the national guidelines for food and drug
safety have been approved by the State Council and will be soon
promulgated.
Without giving details, an official with the conference told
Xinhua News Agency?that China will in the next five years
enhance the safety assessment of food and drug and the monitoring
of drugs and medical equipment, and better handle safety incidents
in the field.
Food and drug safety has become a major concern of Chinese
people. According to a survey by the State Food and Drug
Administration, 65 percent of the respondents worried about the
food safety situation in China.
Several drug safety incidents occurred in China last year, the
most notorious one causing the deaths of at least six patients and
severe side-effects in more than 80 others.
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2007)