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New food tracing system

By Wang Hongyi (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-17 08:02

SHANGHAI -- Starting next year residents will be able to trace the farms where their eggs came from and what the chickens were fed, the Shanghai food and drug administration (SFDA) said Tuesday.

"It is part of the city's effort to ensure food safety and quality," the SFDA said.

All businesses operating in the food industry will have to label their products showing where the contents came from and its nutritional value.

Quick product traceability and identification is vital to ensuring fast recall of products, thus limiting damage to people's health, the SFDA said.

Also known as OVN (Optimizing Vitamin Nutrition), it will ensure vitamins added to the feed of livestock, poultry and aquatic products are balanced, the SFDA said.

All products will be stamped OVN before being sent to market, it said.