The issue of food safety is important in China, particularly in rural areas, that lack the controls and supervision that can be better done in cities. In the first four months of this year, there have been government supervisions on more than 8.5 million sellers of food products and over 180,000 trade markets. Although the government has stepped up the supervision of food, dairy and liquor products sold in markets in rural areas at all points in the supply chain, more needs to be done to ensure food safety.

It is estimated that 1.8 to 3.1 billion people are infected each year by microbiological contamination of the food and water supply. In addition, large numbers of people become sick as a result of the intentional contamination of food or due to careless and unsupervised practices. The addition of some prohibited substances to foods is done to mask poor quality, to extend their shelf life past their expiration date and to make them look more nutritious to the consumer.

Two years after a national health scare over melamine-tainted milk products shocked China’s dairy industry there has been a new wave of reports of adulterated food. Melamine is a substance used in concrete, fertilizers and plastics which mimics protein in food-quality tests. This substance, that some Chinese manufacturers added (and some still do) to infant food, chocolate and other products to make them more appealing can, if consumed in excess, lead to permanent kidney damage.

In recent weeks, there have been reports of pork adulterated with the drug clenbuterol, which can cause heart problems; rice contaminated with cadmium, a metal discharged by smelters; soy sauce laced with arsenic; noodles mixed with ink and wax; bean sprouts contaminated with an animal antibiotic; and artificial eggs made up of chemicals, gelatin and paraffin, among other adulterated food.

Rather than diminishing, the problem of contaminated food seems to be increasing, particularly in rural areas. What explains this situation? The lure of making money at any cost is too tempting to many food producers. They see that by using additives they boost profit margins, and they don’t consider the serious effects adulterated food can have on consumers.

In addition, China’s rapid growth in recent times has given rise to an estimated half a million food producers, most of whom employ 10 or fewer workers. Because these producers are scattered throughout the country, oversight is difficult. This situation is aggravated by the fact that there are not enough qualified supervisors in the country and that the great number of food suppliers makes it difficult to enforce national standards, monitor food production and trace problems to their source.

Since adulterated food can bring considerable economic benefits to localities, such as increased government income and employment opportunities, many local officials tolerate these activities. To make things even more complex, adulterated products are not sold around the places where they are produced but instead they are transported to other localities, thus reducing the incentives of local authorities to crack down on these counterfeiting illegal businesses.

Many adulterated food products are sold in rural areas. Such is the case of fake milk powder, whose victims tended to be mainly villagers. Some analysts attribute the prevalence of adulterated foods in rural areas to the low purchasing power of many villagers and to their lower educational level. In addition, there is a regulatory chasm between urban and rural areas.

Many experts consider that the most evident feature of China’s food safety regulatory system is the fragmentation of regulatory authority among several government agencies. There is a difference with the United States, where except for meat and poultry, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates almost the entire food chain.

In 2003, in an attempt to solve this situation, the Chinese leadership created the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), in charge of food regulation and comprehensive food supervision. However, soon after it was created, it was evident that this new agency was going to confront some serious criticism, particularly from other regulatory agencies.
Following years have shown that SFDA does not have enough authority to exercise complete supervision over food safety, and that its authority remains divided among different government agencies.

Some progress on this issue, however, has been achieved. In 2009, China adopted a comprehensive food-safety law, bringing hundreds of standards in food production in line with international norms. As a result, almost half of dairy food companies have been ordered to stop production after failing to meet new licensing requirements. In addition, the Ministry of Health is planning to update and make public a list of legal food additives and publish a black list of illegal additives by the end of the year.

It is important to increase consumer food safety education, particularly in rural areas, which will give them the knowledge and confidence to demand better and safer products. At the same time, the government should accelerate the training of more enforcement agents, since there is now less than one food inspector for every 10,000 people.

China’s food regulating agencies should be streamlined and their responsibilities should be clearly established. A clear division of duties will give the Chinese citizens the sense that their health and well being are being effectively protected by the government.

Dr. Cesar Chelala is an international public health consultant.