Food safety group named

2006-01-24 From Shanghai Daily

A GROUP of food, nutrition, and health care experts have been invited to set up a consultation committee to help the city government set policies on food safety.

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration announced the names of the 17 committee members yesterday, and said the group is the first of its type in the country.

Fifteen of the committee members work at local health facilities and universities, while the other two are from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Beijing.

"Food safety is the primary concern of local residents and the government. In addition to ensuring the quality of locally manufactured food, we also research food imported from other provinces," said Wang Longxing, director of the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration. "For instance, the city consumes 30,000 pigs a day, but only 10,000 are raised on local farms."

Officials said the administration will invite the expert committee to work out a risk appraisal system for various foods and a food accident prevention plan.


"Previously, we only required that no one suffer from food poisoning. The present request is to study possible risks and monitor the whole food processing and delivery system to detect possible dangers in time and prevent accidents," said Peng Jing, former vice director of the Shanghai Health Bureau and a member of the committee.

In addition to providing assistance to local food authorities, the committee will also keep the public informed about food risks.

"Many residents have become overly sensitive about what they are eating and the media also may exaggerate the dangers of certain foods. We want to give people a guidance about food," Wang said.