ENSURING FOOD SAFETY DURING THE FLOOD SEASON: AUTHORITIES STRENGTHEN HIDDEN DANGER INVESTIGATION AND MARKET MONITORING
Beijing, August 11th – The General Administration of Market Supervision has deployed measures to ensure food safety during the flood season. Market supervision departments in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and other affected areas are conducting investigations to eliminate hidden risks and strengthen market monitoring.
In Beijing, the Market Supervision Bureau has conducted food safety risk investigations on 1,260 companies, including food production, catering services, food distribution, and farmers’ markets. The city’s professional food safety inspection team has been assisting and guiding disaster-stricken enterprises to resume production and market.
Hebei Province has also organized inspections on food safety during the flood season. A total of 1,432 food production enterprises, 16,684 food sales enterprises, 135 temporary meal sites, and 256 mass resettlement sites have been inspected. So far, no food-borne diseases or illegal activities related to the production and sale of spoiled or moldy food have been found in the affected areas.
The Tianjin Municipal Market Supervision Committee has ensured safe meals for 3,846 disaster-stricken individuals and nearly 100,000 flood prevention and relief personnel. Special inspections have been conducted in catering companies, food production companies, school cafeterias, and elderly care institutions. No violations have been detected, and efforts have been made to aid disaster-stricken enterprises in resuming work and production.
To prevent food contamination, market supervision departments in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and other areas are intensifying their supervision and inspection of key foods and sites. They are urging food producers and operators to take necessary measures and prevent contaminated or unqualified food from entering the market.
Baoding City in Hebei Province has implemented cleaning and disinfection measures for disaster-stricken enterprises before they can resume production and operation. Only two agricultural and sideline product wholesale markets in Hebei remain temporarily closed due to flood damage.
The State Administration for Market Regulation has also deployed inspections and monitoring of market prices in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Jilin. They aim to establish a daily price reporting system for important livelihood commodities and closely monitor price changes.
The survey reveals that the supply of key materials in flooded areas, such as packaged drinking water, instant noodles, vegetables, rice noodles, oil, meat, eggs, and milk, is relatively sufficient and prices are stable. However, due to decreased output and transportation issues, the price of leafy vegetables has risen, although the difference between the purchase and sale price is not significant. Prices of vegetables in Hebei Province have been stable and even declining in recent days.
The General Administration of Market Supervision has also issued guidelines for dietary safety consumption during the flood season. Food producers, processors, and consumers are reminded not to use submerged, soaked, moldy, or spoiled ingredients in food production. Additionally, they are advised to avoid consuming prepackaged processed food that has been flooded or rainwater soaked and to refrain from drinking untreated surface water, rainwater, or flood water.
Authorities stress the importance of not washing dishes or rinsing food in flood water, as well as avoiding picking up floating objects or consuming animal carcasses or wild plants left by floodwaters.
In conclusion, the General Administration of Market Supervision is taking proactive steps to ensure food safety during the flood season. The cooperation between market supervision departments and the implementation of inspections and monitoring measures have been effective in preventing tainted or unqualified food from reaching consumers.