Shanghai looks to raise food safety standards further

Credit: Ti Gong

The substandard rate of food products in Shanghai, based on the results of random tests, should be below 2 percent by 2025, with food safety levels raised further, the city's market regulators announced on Tuesday.

The development of a whole-process coverage and efficient food and agricultural product safety supervision and management system will be accelerated, according to the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.

The information traceability system of food products will be further improved, and the construction of cold-chain logistics facilities on food and agricultural products will be beefed up with the target of whole-process traceability on key categories of products.

Credit: Ti Gong

In the first quarter of this year, the city's market regulators conducted checks on 24,140 batches of food products in total, and 408 of them, or 1.69 percent, failed tests.

Bacteria, excessive pesticide residue, microbial contamination and the use of excessive food additives were some of the major problems, according to market regulators.

Meanwhile, some restaurants in the city are opening their kitchens to the public to raise awareness on food safety and create a secure environment for dining.

The Dapu Road outlet of China's hotpot chain restaurant Haidilao in Huangpu District invited local families to visit its kitchen on Sunday in a food safety science education activity for the public.

Credit: Ti Gong

Wearing uniforms and masks, visitors got a glimpse of how food safety monitoring and management staff work and their selection criteria for food materials. They also witnessed first-hand pesticide residue tests on tomatoes and cucumbers.

The restaurant has appointed 26,000 staff responsible for food safety management since 2017.

They bear primary responsibility for food safety and hygiene conditions on dishware and need to obtain relevant food safety training certificates.

They also check expiry dates of food materials and the operation procedures of chefs.

Credit: Ti Gong

"It is the first time I visited a restaurant kitchen and I was very curious," said Angela Ye, who came with her daughter. "It offers a more direct experience on the hygiene conditions of kitchens and food operation procedures than seeing all these via surveillance cameras and screens."

"It is a good move for consumers to learn about the food safety situation of a restaurant," she added.

The long supply chain of food ingredients and the number of processes involved, from planting and transportation to food reservation and processing, all pose challenges on food safety guarantee, thus it requires utmost scrutiny to ensure diners get safe food, the restaurant said.