Government and Policy

Public opinion weighs in making food safety standards

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-11 09:21
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BEIJING - Citizens and institutions will be invited to voice suggestions in drafting national standards on food safety, according to a regulation released by China's Ministry of Health Wednesday.

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Authorities will solicit opinions and incorporate suggestions from research institutions, consumers, experts and supervisory departments before the implementation of any national standards on food safety, the regulation says.

The regulation, which is to take effect on December 1, stipulate that all standards on food safety should be scientific, transparent and reliable.

Further, those standards should be primarily based on relevant domestic safety tests and take into account China's social and economic development, it reads.

In recent years, the Chinese public was shocked by repeated food scandals including the melamine-tainted diary case in 2008 which caused at least six deaths when relevant food safety standard was absent.

China subsequently introduced its Food Safety Law in 2009 as a framework to intensify food safety monitoring and law enforcement.