The incident raises questions about food safety standards and their implementation in China
The incident raises questions about food safety standards and their implementation in China
By Lisa Maria Goertz
Imagine the shock a man received in China when he saw rat legs in the sausages he was about to tuck into.
This has again raised questions over the food safety standards and their implementation in China.
The stomach-turning incident was reported by aggrieved customer Mr. Wang. He bought the sausages at the Huasheng Shopping Plaza in Hantai district of Hanzhong city in Shaanxi, the central-east Chinese province.
Wang was cooking the sausages when he discovered the rat legs inside and immediately complained to the Hantai District Market Supervision Bureau, stated a report in newspaper Sohu.
The sausages came from the Xihuan branch of the Shaanxi Huasheng Xingyong Trading Co. Ltd., which holds a “food business license”, said a statement issued by the Bureau.
The statement confirmed that inspectors went to the establishment and randomly picked three different types of similar food items from the upper, middle, and bottom levels of the store freezer and cut them up on the spot. However, no foreign objects or odors were detected.
“Regarding the complainant’s request for testing the sausages he purchased with rat legs inside, as the integrity of the suspected problem food was destroyed during the cooking, preparation and eating process, it is no longer possible to determine the nature and source of the foreign matter from the sensory characteristics because the proper testing conditions are no longer available,” said the statement.
Wang is reportedly demanding compensation amounting to CNY 300,000 to 500,000 (GBP 34,083 to 56,805) over the incident.
The investigation is being carried out in the incident.
In this backdrop, it is pertinent to know how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) handles food imports from China. The FDA has been quite vigilant about food imports from China. In fact, a report from the Economic Research Service published by the United States Department of Agriculture had given findings of a study conducted on the issue back in 2009.
“U.S. food imports from China more than tripled in value between 2001 and 2008. Addressing safety risks associated with these imports is difficult because of the vast array of products from China, China’s weak enforcement of food safety standards, its heavy use of agricultural chemicals, and its considerable environmental pollution,” stated the report.
FDA import refusal data underlined hazards involved in food imports from China. The government agency stated that there were frequent problems of “filth,” hazardous additives, labeling, and veterinary drug residues in fish, shellfish, etc. The Chinese government had controls for food export in place. However, it is a challenging task for officials on both sides to monitor a big range of products for various hazards, which could crop up in the supply chain.
It seems that cases of food frauds and adulteration to gain profits rose in China in 2016. This was reported by researchgate.net in its analysis based on 1,553 media reports.
There are legal remedies available in the U.S. to address this issue
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(Edited by Shirish Vishnu Shinde and Megha Virendra Choudhary)
