In the wake of several high-profile food safety scandals, China’s lawmakers have adopted tougher amendments to bolster the country’s existing food safety law. The changes, effective Oct. 1, 2015, will add 50 new articles, or about half again what the previous law contained.
Many of the new amendments address infant formula regulations and the online food market, which has seen rising popularity in China. The changes also set tougher penalties for violations, according to news reports, and are the first changes to the law since it was originally adopted in 2009. The action Friday by the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress reflects a goal set by the country’s leaders at the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in November 2013. Recent food safety scandals in China include using recycled “gutter oil” in restaurants, the fraudulent labeling of fox and rat meat as beef and pork, selling pork from diseased pigs, injecting clenbuterol into pork, and contaminating milk with melamine. There are still concerns that, given the fragmented nature of the food production, processing and distribution system in China, food safety authorities there won’t have enough staff and other resources to enforce the new law. Some recent audits of food facilities in China reportedly revealed that nearly half don’t have sufficient training or equipment to ensure that adequate safety standards are met.
