FAO experts express pollution concerns

BEIJING - Experts from a United Nations agency have applauded China's efforts in ensuring food safety but expressed concerns over potential risks posed by soil contamination.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said, "We have seen a lot of improvements in China but there is much more to be done."

The FAO chief said, "We're concerned about pollution in general," adding that food safety does not only require less use of fertilizers but also better management of water resources.

In May, three rice mills in central China's Hunan province were investigated after rice was found to be contaminated with cadmium, a carcinogenic industrial chemical.

A food safety inspection conducted in the first quarter showed that 44.4 percent of rice and rice products in the city of Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province also contained excessive amounts of cadmium, according to a Guangzhou Food and Drug Administration statement on May 16.

Although the source of the pollutants has not yet been found, heavy metal contained in fertilizers has contaminated irrigation water and arable land.

Agricultural authorities in Hunan said in 2012 that heavy metal pollution has been spreading from urban agricultural production bases to rural areas.

"It's not exactly true that the more fertilizers you use, the more output you get," according to the FAO chief.

China produced about 6.21 million tons of fertilizer in 2011, accounting for about 20 percent of global output and making the country the world's largest fertilizer producer, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed.