QUALITY GUARANTEE: The National Processed Food and Additives Quality Inspection Center was established in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on November 26, 2009 (HAO RAN)

Regulatory efforts

On May 1, benzoyl peroxide and calcium peroxide, two flour bleaching agents that have been used in China for more than 20 years, will be banned, because they are already technically unnecessary. It's considered by many as a milestone in China's regulation of food additives.

According to Yan Weixing, Deputy Director of CDC's Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, China has established a series of regulations and standards concerning food additives.

On June 1, 2009, the new Food Safety Law went into effect. The law stipulates a ban on all chemicals and materials other than authorized additives in food production, saying "only those items proven to be safe and necessary in food production are allowed to be listed as food additives."

The law also calls for a nationwide mechanism to assess food safety risks of a biological, chemical and physical nature.

On June 1, 2010, the Provisions for the Regulation of Food Additives Production, promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), became effective. The provisions set forth the application procedure for a food additive production license, mandate keeping production management records and specify the particulars to be listed on the label and instructions for use. The provisions require manufacturers to state food additives on product labels. Food additives with potential dangers to specific people are required to offer warning labels.

In the whole of 2010, the Ministry of Health formulated and released a total of 95 new standards for food additives. On March 29, the ministry issued seven more national standards and 58 newly designated standards.

In late February, a new amendment to the Criminal Law was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature. It imposes heavier punishments for people who produce and sell tainted and poisoned food.

The law, for the first time, stipulates criminals may face capital punishment for committing food crimes resulting in death or other severe consequences.

In 2010, the police arrested 23 people for allegedly producing, marketing or using illegal food additives. During a nationwide food safety overhaul, police authorities investigated 5,305 cases involving illegal food additives, blacklisted 47 illegal substances and 22 food additives vulnerable to misuse, and confiscated more than 19.8 million yuan ($2.9 million) of illegal gains and goods worth more than 60 million yuan ($8.78 million), figures from the Ministry of Public Security show.

On March 25, the State Council issued a working plan to beef up food safety in 2011. The plan says China will intensify safety regulation on dairy products, edible oils, health food, meat, food additives and alcohol this year. The plan also contains measures to raise market access thresholds for food producers, gradually phase out unqualified producers and establish a products tracing mechanism and a credibility rating system in those industries.

Despite this, China's current food safety regulatory system is blamed for being redundant and ineffective.

Various administrations were involved in regulation, which had resulted in regulatory gaps and, occasionally, overlapping, said Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance.

"China is paying more attention to the regulation of food safety. Besides various ministerial authorities, there is a Food Safety Commission of the State Council," Zhu said. "But there is still lacking a department with arbitrate power."

He suggests the Central Government set up a coordinated and integrated food safety regulatory agency.

Even with strict regulation, manufacturers are still the first to be accountable for food safety and quality, said Zhang Yong, who heads the office of the State Council Food Safety Commission.

The current situation required the government to implement stringent regulation on food safety and to improve the efficiency of its working system, he said.

"We will not only strengthen the work of different regulatory departments, but also eliminate systematic loopholes," Zhang said.

Wang Zhutian, another Deputy Director of CDC's Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, said there should be strong technical support to guarantee effective regulation on food additives.

"Currently, many local institutions still lack necessary equipment and professional staff, which restricts their efficiency on monitoring illegal food additives," he said.

CDC's Chen said millions of small food producers across China made any inspection measure difficult to implement.

"China has 200 million scattered rural households that produce food, and has more than 500,000 small and medium-sized food processors," he said. "It is impossible to ensure that they all have enough knowledge and law-abiding awareness to meet all the food regulations."

Under such condition, Fan suggests consumers to inform themselves about additives. "You can eat a varied diet and go for fresh unprocessed food whenever possible," she said.