China has blacklisted 151 materials forbidden or abusable in food and feed over the past nine years, according to figures released by the food safety committee under the State Council, or China's Cabinet. The materials include 47 inedible materials likely to be added illegally to food, 22 food additives easily to be abused and 82 substances forbidden in feed and drinking water for animals.
The government has posted these materials on the website of China's Health Ministry and the website of the Agriculture Ministry Tonyred, an industrial coloring agent, and ractopamine, which are used to promote leanness in pigs, are among the materials listed.
According to Chinese law, criminals producing and selling toxic or hazardous food could face a penalty as severe as capital punishment.
The Health Ministry began to publicize the list of forbidden food additives in 2008, and the Agriculture Ministry began listing substances forbidden in feed and drinking water in 2002.
China is waging a prolonged and stringent fight against the illegal use of additives in food, with Vice Premier Li Keqiang earlier this week promising "a firm attitude, iron hand measures and more efforts" in dealing with the problem.
The State Council, the Ministry of Health, and the State Food and Drug Administration also publicized detailed measures in the past week to combat the problem, saying they will intensify supervision, upgrade safety limits, and greatly increase penalties for violators.
These moves came after a series of food safety scandals, including steamed buns dyed with unidentified chemicals, the use of "lean meat powder" and the use of illegal cooking oil known as "gutter oil," emerged despite Chinese authorities' efforts to revamp the country's food industry.
Some other cases of contaminated food in China have been exposed recently. Consumer confidence has once again been shaken. Many people are calling on the government to strengthen their supervision and administrative sanctions on food products.
To use pork to make beef? This miracle has been widely found in China this April. By adding this kind of additive called "beef extract," pork can be processed to become as tasty, and expensive as beef.
It seems this additive is not a secret in the market, only the consumers don't know.
Medical Expert, said, "People keeps absorbing excessive additives over a long time, their kidneys and livers will be damaged. And it will damage the neural system of chidren and old people."
While the consumers are still shocked by this so-called beef, buns on their dining table have also dealt them another blow.
An initial investigation by the municipal government has revealed that the Shanghai Shenglu Food Company produced more than 3-thousand steamed buns daily using additives to make them appear fresher. These were then sold across the city, including in some large supermarkets.
Fewer steamed buns were for sale at this Lianhua supermarket. More than 32-thousand buns were taken off store shelves when the scandal emerged.
Mr. Wang, Sales Manager of Lianhua Supermarket, said, "We removed the steamed buns produced by Shenglu as soon as we learned of the incident. We gave customers who had bought the steamed buns from our outlets refunds with their receipts. Despite the scandal, our sales volume has been fine so far." However, most customers remain concerned about food safety. Steamed buns are a regular breakfast staple for Ms.
Gao. She used to buy them mostly from supermarkets because she felt it was a clean and safe environment. But now, she has second thoughts about buying the popular snack.– Xinhua
Ms. Gao, Shanghai Shopper, said, "I can't believe that even steamed buns from the supermarket are no longer safe. The only places I trusted to shop at were major supermarkets and specialist shops. But now even there, product quality cannot be guaranteed. I really don't know where to buy my goods from in the future."
Two years ago, China enacted a Food Safety Law. Although difficulties were unresolved and controversies remained, many were hopeful it would deal with the country's bad record on food safety. But now it seems the law needs to be perfected and better enforced.Infant food products, in which levels of melamine, a toxic chemical normally used in manufacturing plastics, is higher than 1 milligram per kilogram of food, will be prohibited from sale in China, according to an official regulation issued Wednesday.
In other food products, the maximum tolerable level of melamine is 2.5 mg for per kg of food, said the regulation, issued by Chinese Health Ministry along with other government agencies.
"Melamine, neither a kind of food material or food additive, is prohibited from being intentionally added into food," said the regulation, which took effect on Wednesday.
Anyone who purposely adds melamine to food would be dealt with according to the law, it added.
However, the regulation also noted very low levels of melamine may enter the food chain naturally from the environment or through products package materials.
Ingestion of melamine over a period of time can cause damage to people's urinary and reproductive systems, lead to kidney stones, and bladder cancer.
In 2008, China's food industry suffered a heavy blow when milk products were found to contain dangerous levels of melamine, which were intentionally added to make milk appear to be protein-rich. The toxic milk killed at least six babies and sickened 300,000 others across the country.
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