State cracks down on food-safety lapses

The Ministry of Public Security has recently made public 10 typical crimes concerning meat products, while judicial authorities have issued interpretations of crimes related to food safety. Ensuring food safety requires both strict legislation and enforcement, says an editorial in People's Daily. Excerpts:

The judicial interpretation this time does not merely specify the criminal responsibility for crimes related to food safety, but also further expands the criminal law's coverage of food safety, from food itself to related products such as food packaging and sanitizer.

It has become harder for ordinary consumers to tell whether food is safe or not as modern food technology gets increasingly complicated. In this sense, food safety is actually largely dependent on tangible legal supervision and clear risk alerts.

Therefore, the latest judicial interpretation has stipulated heavy punishments for State functionaries' dereliction of duty that causes serious food-safety incidents or other severe consequences.

With the recent establishment of the China Food and Drug Administration and the steady implementation of stricter food supervision, an administrative supervision system will soon be built.