China says food safety progressing

Technology is helping Chinese consumers begin to trace their food, an agricultural official said earlier this week, in the latest step by China to try to clean up its troubled food supply industry. BusinessWeek’s Henry Sanderson writes that a system of barcodes to track catfish is part of an ongoing campaign started in the summer to step up supervision of food after tainted food scares damaged the reputation of China’s exports and led to recalls. Vice Minister of Agriculture Gao Hongbin said the barcode, which costs just pennies, was an example of the progress that has been made two months into a four-month campaign to build confidence in China’s food industry. Barcode technology, which allows people to read information on products, is not common on agricultural products in China. “You can call up directly and find out where it was produced, what type it is, and if any pesticides were used and what kind of pesticides … you can search all of this information out,” Gao said. “After they added the barcode the value of the product went up two yuan ($0.30) — so wouldn’t you say this is good for the producers?” he said. Gao told a news conference, though, that the success of the campaign, headed by Vice Premier Wu Yi, depended on the cooperation of lower-level officials.

China’ exports have come under intense scrutiny this year because a number of potentially deadly chemicals have been found in goods like toothpaste, toys and seafood. The international outrage gathered speed in March after a tainted pet food ingredient made in China was blamed for causing the deaths of cats and dogs in North America. The backlash resulted in China introducing a number of measures, including the four-month safety campaign that was launched in August. Gao said the use of technology and better education will help step up supervision of products and ensure that when tainted products are discovered, they are not sold and a traceable link is established. In China many pesticides have different names and are not labeled properly, so an interactive online network will also enable China to respond to specific complaints, Gao said. During the campaign the government said more than 300,000 technical staff went to rural areas in the last month to help more than 18 million households. Nearly 200 illegal food companies have been shut amid more than 10,000 cases of violations of the law. “We will ensure the results will be longer lasting,” Gao told reporters. In addition, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in the southern city of Nanning on Monday and agreed to strengthen cooperation in food safety, consumers’ rights and push for the quick exchange of information on food safety.