Opinions on food safety issues in China

As the saying goes: "Food is the first priority for the people." Food safety is a social issue related to the vital interests of millions of people. But in China, food safety problems are becoming increasingly serious and frightening. Regarding the current situation of food safety in China, some data describe: "The proportion of China's food safety standards that adopt international standards is currently only 23%. As early as the early 1980s, the adoption of international standards for agricultural products in the UK, France and Germany has reached more than 80%. ” Regarding the frequent food safety incidents, there is this saying on the Internet: China has completed the popularization of science in food: we know paraffin from rice; we know dichlorvos from ham sausage; from salted duck eggs and chili sauce We know Sudan red; we know formalin from hot pot; we know copper sulfate from fungus; recently we know the chemical effects of melamine from milk powder.

In order to eliminate pests, some people use a large amount of highly toxic or even highly toxic pesticides, causing pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits to seriously exceed standards; in order to increase production, some people blindly use banned hormones; in order to increase the lean meat rate of pigs, some people In order to make the flour and vermicelli vermicelli whiter, some people dared to mix the toxic chemical "clenbuterol" into the feed; in order to defraud money, some people mixed rice straw with water and mixed it with pigment and salt. Soy sauce is sold; in order to make high profits, some people polish old moldy rice containing aflatoxin and sell it as new rice filled with wax. Food safety issues are worrying. Major food safety incidents continue to occur, once again sounding the alarm on food safety issues.

Food safety is the most basic people’s livelihood issue. Why do food safety problems arise in endlessly in our country? I think there are mainly the following reasons:

1. From the perspective of China’s development history, the overall level of food production in our country has not been high for a long time, and the food safety awareness of our people is weak. After an incident, Often we don’t think about the underlying reasons.

At the same time, China is in a period of social transformation. The social system and legal system are being improved. Technology, law and management cannot keep up. Environmental pollution has led to high food safety risks. People's utilitarian thinking is relatively low. Serious and other reasons have caused frequent food safety problems.

2. From the perspective of China’s economic system reform, firstly, China’s current market economic system is imperfect, which is the main reason for a large number of dishonesty among domestic and foreign enterprises. The government did not find out before that it was caused by the imbalance of regulatory power, and if supervision is not in place, it will not provide the soil for enterprises to be honest. Second, China's economic system is currently facing transformation. The extensive and imperfect business model in the past will encounter Waterloo sooner or later. Companies that wake up and identify problems earlier can lay a good foundation for brand reconstruction.

3. From the perspective of the development status of China's industries and enterprises, the food industry is not large-scale, organized and standardized, the industry's self-discipline and restraint mechanism is not perfect, and the quality and safety management capabilities of enterprises are low. Food safety is a problem. An important reason for being in a period of high risks and prominent conflicts.

Judging from the current situation, the willingness and measures to attach great importance to food safety have not yet been transmitted to grassroots farms, factories, markets and regulatory authorities. In various places, the production, processing and sales of food are still scattered due to the weak industrial foundation. There are countless small workshops, small vendors and small restaurants. At the grassroots level, especially in the vast rural areas and the urban-rural fringe areas, supervision capabilities are stretched: there are not enough manpower. Funding is scarce and supervision is weak. Coupled with the inertial thinking of GDP supremacy, in order to boost tax revenue and stimulate employment, some places condone food production companies operating in violation of regulations and implement local protectionism, which encourages companies to escape supervision and makes some small hidden dangers accumulate into big problems.

4. From a management perspective, imperfect food safety supervision and reward and punishment mechanisms are undoubtedly important reasons for frequent food problems.

The multi-faceted management, unclear division of labor, and poor coordination of regulatory agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Quality Inspection Bureau, Industry and Commerce Bureau, and Ministry of Health allow speculators to take advantage of them. Problems such as corruption and bribery that may exist in the food supervision process have also fueled the arrogance of unscrupulous businesses. Unsound legal systems and related regulations also provide opportunities for unscrupulous businesses.

Due to reasons such as an imperfect legal system and lax law enforcement, a large number of food production and processing companies are in the "blind spot" of legal supervision. At the same time, there is a lack of testing standards.

5. The scientific and technological level is still relatively backward, and the food industry standards are relatively lagging behind.

6. Moral decline and lack of integrity have contributed to China’s current food safety problems. Food production is indeed a conscientious job. Poison-type production and processing has become an unspoken rule in the industry. Production is everywhere. It is difficult to imagine that there is a supervisor at every food production and processing point. It is impossible for supervisors to be placed in the entire food distribution chain. Each production step is completed by people one by one. They should be scrutinized by conscience and morality before this chain of sin can be interrupted. A serious lack of integrity and a serious decline in morality are the root causes of food problems. Only by rebuilding basic credit, especially the ethical standards of manufacturers, and constantly improving laws and regulations, so that those with moral corruption will be severely punished by law and shunned by society, can food safety be effectively guaranteed.

So how to solve China’s food safety problem? What is the solution for China’s food safety problem? I think we should start from several aspects:

1. Change management concepts and models.

From the traditional "crisis management model" to the "risk management model", it is not to deal with the crisis after it occurs, but to predict the risk before the problem, build the legal and management system in advance, and achieve " "Move management forward" to solve problems in the bud.

2． Standardize the food industry chain and reduce various taxes and fees.

Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan said at the city government’s executive meeting on August 29, “From the perspective of economic theory, any problem that occurs on a large scale is generally not a moral issue; any problem that occurs repeatedly The problem must be that there is something wrong with the mechanism; when this kind of problem fails to work, it is likely to be related to productivity. "So, from the perspective of "changing the management system, transforming the production method, and reducing costs and expenses". We will start from all aspects and study the fundamental strategies to ensure food safety.

3. To improve the food safety supervision system, supervision work should focus on breakthroughs and lead from point to point.

Focus on the standardization and management of several major food issues that directly affect people's livelihood, and promote the solution of the entire food safety issue by focusing on points.

6. Strengthen the construction of food technology system.

7. Establish and improve the responsibility system and accountability system.

8． Strengthen food safety publicity and education.