Society

China targets restaurants in crackdown on additives

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-26 06:40

BEIJING - China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on Wednesday announced that they will conduct an inspection tour to check the implementation of an earlier measure regulating the use of additives in food by restaurants.

Related readings:  Experts query use of rice additives  Additives blamed for rising lymphoma cases  Additives feeding growing number with lymphoma  Fight against illegal food additives gains steam

In an earlier circular, the SFDA ordered all restaurants to pledge not to use illegal food additives or add ingredients that are harmful to human health in their food.

It also ordered restaurants to declare the names of food additives used in self-made hot-pot seasoning, beverages, and other seasonings, to local food-safety authorities and post these additives in prominent places in the restaurants.

The inspection will be conducted in Shanxi, Jilin, Anhui, Hainan,  Guizhou, Yunnan, Qinghai, Tianjin, Ningxia, and Chongqing.

China is taking heavy-handed measures following a string of food safety scandals in recent months.

Courts in China have heard 61 cases involving food safety violations and convicted 106 criminals over the past eight months, the Supreme People's Court said last week.

Additionally, sentence terms for the convicts, which were handed down during the period from September last year to April this year, were all without chance of reprieve.

The court also vowed harsh punishments for officials involved in food safety violations.

Chinese police nationwide have solved more than 1,000 cases that "severely" jeopardized food safety so far this year.