China Passes Food Safety Law(2)
“The core problem for China’s food safety is that China’s media have no freedom
at all when covering food safety issues,” Zhou said.
“If another organization like [the new] Food Safety Commission emerged without
media or other supervision, it would be easier to abuse the administrative
power,” Zhou said.
“The feasible solution for China’s food safety problem is to unleash the media.
I understand that China’s Communist Party … feels reluctant … But to free the
media only in the food safety sector may have a positive impact,” he said.
U.N. criticism
In October, World Health Organization (WHO) officials presenting a U.N. report
on food safety were supportive of efforts to reform China's regulatory system
but critical of its response to the melamine scandal.
“An old-fashioned system contributed to this event,” Jorgen Schlundt, director
of WHO's food safety department, said at the time.
“A disjointed system with dispersed authority between ministries and agencies
resulted in poor communication and a prolonged outbreak with late response,” he
said. “If there had been better follow-up, this problem would not have been as
severe.”
The 29-page report cited a fractured system that divides responsibility for
safety among a host of agencies.
At least 70 people were sickened last week after eating pork products
contaminated with an illegal animal feed additive, official media reported.
In 2006, more than 300 people fell ill in Shanghai after eating pig meat or
organs that were similarly contaminated.
Original reporting in Mandarin by Wen Jian. Translated by Jia Yuan. Mandarin
service director: Jennifer Chou. Written and produced in English by Sarah
Jackson-Han.
