China makes breakthrough on food safety surveillance

China's 1 billion yuan investment on the program of "key technologies of food safety" has be rewarded with an array of tech breakthroughs in research and development of monitoring, inspecting and surveillance systems and apparatus during the 10th Five-year Plan. This has made the gap between China's food safety system and the international criteria regime very narrow in these fields.

Besides adopting foreign testing techniques which have been tailored for the situation in China, the country has developed fast sampling techniques which is urgently needed for efficient enforcement of the rules. China is the holder of some of the intellectual property rights.

The studies on testing and fast sampling of residue of pesticides, veterinary medicine, bio-toxin, and food additives have led to 18 important testing equipment and 25 testing reagents. The testing process for the avian flu and NDV, which used to last 21 days, takes only 4 hours now.

In addition, an integrated testing system to detecting residue of 180 types of pesticides in tea, rice and fruit juice has been invented which makes it possible to use a uniformed criteria for the 180 varieties of pesticides. In the old practice, each pesticide needs a unique standard of testing.

The dioxin analyzing technique is a cut-edge technique in the science of food safety and environment. China has had its own dioxin testing and analyzing system in place which has proved to be in compliance line with the international analytical quality assurance (AQA).

In the field of food monitoring technologies, China has established the food safety system for key chemical pollutants and microbe which causes diseases. There is a food pollutants monitoring network covering 13 provinces in the country.

China has also placed its first system for food surveillance, pre-warning and risk analyses and control.

Significant breakthroughs have also been made on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point System (HACCP).

By People's Daily Online