China Braces for More Food Scares
BEIJING
(AP) - China's food safety crisis has tarnished
its reputation abroad and threatens to spur
social
unrest at home, where more health
scares are expected, a top official was
quoted as saying Monday.
Sun
Xianze, an official with the State Food
and Drug Administration, called on his colleagues
over the weekend to urgently step up food
supervision, the official China Daily newspaper
reported.
"Food
security problems have impeded Chinese agri-products
and food many times in international
trade, and damaged our national
credibility and image," Sun was quoted
as saying by on Monday.
The
Chinese
government has been trying to
toughen product supervision amid mounting
criticism-at home and abroad-that the quality
of its drug, food and other products is
poorly regulated.
In
a seminar on Saturday, Sun said that future
food safety accidents would likely be caused
by residual pesticides and veterinary drugs
in food, the use of industrial ingredients
in food
manufacturing and dangerous bacteria,
the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
"Food safety accidents and individual
cases will not only affect the healthy development
of the industry but could also impact local
economies and social stability,"
said Sun, who is director of the agency's
food safety coordination department.
He
listed domestic
cases from the past year including
drug-tainted fish, banned Sudan dye used
to color egg yolks red, and pork tainted
with clenbuterol, a banned feed additive.
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