China to strengthen punishments for food safety violators: official

BEIJING - China will toughen its punishment for food safety violators, as its revised regulation on the implementation of the Food Safety Law adds a maximum fine of 10 times the annual income of a violator, an official said Tuesday.

The regulation, to be effective starting Dec 1, strengthens the punishment of illegal activities, adding a "punishment to person" system to hold legal representatives and relevant responsible persons accountable, who may face fines up to 10 times their annual income, said Sun Meijun, an official with the State Administration for Market Regulation.

The regulation sets out clear regulatory measures to address specific issues, such as prohibiting the use of meetings, lectures and health consultations to carry out false advertising of food.

In order to improve the efficiency of supervision, the regulation puts forward to building professional food safety inspector teams, give heavy rewards to whistle-blowers inside the enterprise and publicize the list of illegally added substances in food.