PRC Food Safety Law: Food for Thought

According to Chinese media reports last year, six children died and nearly 300,000 others were sickened after consuming milk powder containing melamine, a toxic industrial chemical that was added to show a higher protein level in the milk powder. The melamine contamination of dairy products was discovered to be widespread. Concerns about food safety have surfaced in China long before the melamine dairy scare: sub-standard baby milk produced in Anhui, Longkou noodles containing lead from Shandong, fake alcohol in Guangdong, soy sauce made from human hair (still not clear how that works in practice), eggs with melamine – this list is long and a cause of grave concern to Chinese consumers.

This unrest in relation to food safety led to an Asian Development Bank policy note being delivered to the PRC State Council in 2007. The policy note was the result of a technical assistance project between the PRC State Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization. The note was generally positive and commented favorably on the great efforts made by the PRC government to improve food safety. Despite some progress, problems remained – in particular in respect of inter-agency coordination and the lack of a framework law in respect of food safety. The latest milk powder problem may have been the catalyst that further sped up the introduction of the new law.

As such, the PRC Food Safety Law was approved by the National People's Congress (NPC) on February 28, 2009, and provides a legal basis for the government to strengthen food safety control "from the production line to the dining table." 
 

The law which goes into effect on June 1, 2009, consolidates hundreds of regulations and standards covering China’s 500,000 food-processing companies and promises tougher penalties for producers of tainted products.