BEIJING: The Chinese government has ordered a nationwide battle against illegal food additives for fear that recent tainted food scandals are but the tip of a problem that could lead to social panic and upheaval.
So far this year, the authorities have uncovered sales of drug-tainted pork, bean sprouts treated with carcinogenic chemicals, and old bread treated with sweeteners and dyed to make it look fresh.
The announcement by the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Thursday said food inspections should be stepped up and violators must be severely punished.
China will publish upgraded national guidelines for the safe use of food additives by the end of the year, according to the circular.
'At present, the misuse of the food additives and non-edible substances in food production has become a prominent issue affecting our overall food safety,' the notice said.
The State Food and Drug Administration also issued a statement on Thursday prohibiting the use of any food additive or flavouring that is uncertified or bears no required information, such as who the manufacturer is, as well as the overuse of such materials.
Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, who is responsible for food safety, revealed the depth of the government's worry when he pledged at a teleconference on Thursday that the government would take 'iron hand' measures against the use of illegal food additives.
Such food cases have an 'extensive social impact' and can easily cause 'a ripple effect', Mr Li was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
Those who violate China's laws on food additives should 'pay dearly', Mr Li said.
The latest food additive case happened on Wednesday in southern Guangdong, when the local authorities announced that 16 tonnes of pork tainted with 'colourings' made from sodium borate, bean flour and other additives had been seized in the province.
The toxic chemicals are believed to have been injected to make the meat look like beef, which sells at a higher price.
Sodium borate is widely used in producing detergents, cosmetics and enamel glazes, and to make buffer solutions in biochemistry. It is banned as a food additive, as 5g of the chemical can kill a child.
The Legal Daily also reported recently that the authorities in north-east China's Shenyang city had seized 40 tonnes of bean sprouts that were tainted with sodium nitrate, urea, antibiotics and a plant hormone. The chemicals were used to make the vegetables grow faster and look shinier.
Another case occurred early this month, when a company based in central China's Henan province was accused of buying pigs fed with clenbuterol, an illegal additive. The banned supplement, which is used by unethical farmers to produce leaner meat, can cause heart palpitations and dizziness in human beings.
The worst food scandal in recent years happened in 2008, when at least six infants were killed and more than 300,000 others fell ill after consuming dairy products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.
China on Wednesday published a regulation stipulating that infant food products with levels of melamine higher than 1mg per kilogram of food are prohibited from sale in the country.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, XINHUA, CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
