Last month, Bloomberg News profiled 28-year-old Wu Heng, the creator of a Wikipedia-like website for food safety violations in China. The article described how Wu felt victimized after discovering that pork can be chemically treated to look and taste just like beef, and he went on to start “Throwing It Out the Window,” a public encyclopedia where anyone can post information from government websites and media investigations into safety violations. The site began in 2011 and it now has more than 3,000 accounts of potentially unsafe food. It reportedly draws about 5,000 visitors each day who can look up violations by product and province. In August, 17 men were charged with selling poison-laden dog meat and 38 people were arrested on suspicion of making or selling chicken feet contaminated with hydrogen peroxide solutions in East China’s Zhejiang Province. In September, Chinese authorities in Shanghai arrested six officials and employees from a subsidiary of the U.S. food supplier OSI Group in connection with the scandal involving expired meat served at a number of Western fast-food chain franchises in China. “Throwing It Out the Window” may not change how the market operates, but Wu told Bloomberg that it helps people know what they might really be eating. When friends ask him how to avoid fake or dangerous food, Wu said he tells them to avoid shopping at mobile stalls, pay regular prices, and “rotate their poison” — consume a variety of foods so that toxins in any particular fare don’t build up in the body.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
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Figures come from a report published by
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Officials from several countries, including the United States, met in China recently to discuss food safety priorities.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference was hosted by the General Administration of
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The World Health Organization (WHO) provided an update on progress made relating to
The a2 Milk Company (“a2MC”) has recalled three specific batches of its imported a2 Platinum Premium USA label infant formula 0-12 months because of the presence of cereulide. The product
JXK Enterprises Inc. is recalling Boner Bears Chocolate, Lot #BB21125, after being notified that FDA laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of sildenafil, an active ingredient in the FDA-approved prescription drug
Total Nutrition Inc. of Deer Park, NY, is recalling TNVitamins Ultra Potent Complete Green Superfood and Doctor’s Pride Complete Green Superfood Ultra Potent Moringa Capsules because they have the
Bazzini LLC, of Allentown, PA, a co-manufacturer utilized by SkinnyDipped, is recalling a limited number of cases of SkinnyDipped Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Bites, because of the possible presence of
