China View: Tainted Milk And Exploding Watermelons: Beijing’s Food Safety Struggles
Jonathan Kantor Studio
In 2008, melamine-tainted milk led to the deaths of six babies and affected thousands of other children. It was discovered that local milk products for babies had been laced with melamine, an industrial chemical used in plastics and fertilizers, which had been deliberately added to diluted raw milk to boost its protein content. As a result, there was increased incidence of kidney stones and renal failure among infants. In the aftermath of this scandal, the Chinese government prioritized strengthening food safety regulations and supervision through stricter guidelines.
However, despite these efforts, the government continues to struggle to improve food quality assurance and enforcement of safety standards. Illegal practices and food related scandals have continued to occur, which has heightened public concerns about food safety and domestically produced products. The frequency of these food scandals has had devastating consequences on the economy, particularly the agricultural sector, and poses a greater risk for future development and food security in China.
In 1995, the first food hygiene law of the People's Republic of China was adopted and marked the formal legalization of China's food hygiene management. The development of China's food safety policy during this time was slow and narrow, mainly focusing on industrial hygiene and disease prevention. It was not until 2001 when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), an intergovernmental body that regulates and facilitates international trade, that the Chinese government began to prioritize the development of domestic food safety.
With WTO membership came a large increase in imported and exported foods, which brought fierce competition for domestic industries. This also raised the public’s awareness of food safety concerns and incidents. As a result of increased pressure from the public and international partners, a draft of the Food Safety Law was created.
However, before the law was finalized, China experienced one of its most notorious food scandals in recent history. In 2008 a scandal erupted when some milk collection stations were found to have added melamine. Chinese authorities announced the seizure of over 2,000 tons of milk powder and the recall of about 9,000 tons of milk powder. An investigation also revealed that 22 manufacturers of powdered infant formula were selling melamine contaminated products.
This scandal was particularly impactful because of the growing demand for milk products during this period. Between 1997 and 2008, the growth of milk production was approximately 15% annually. This scandal received world-wide attention and had a severe economic impact on the domestic dairy industry, resulting in heavy losses for China’s dairy sector. How will these food scandals impact the Chinese economy?
Since 2008, China has faced numerous food safety incidents. In 2011, fields of watermelons exploded when agricultural workers applied forchlorfenuron, a growth accelerator, to quicken the harvesting time and increase the size of the fruits. In 2013, Chinese police busted a criminal ring accused of taking meat from rats and foxes and selling it as lamb. While the consumption of rat meat is not abnormal or illegal in the country, the marketing and selling of one meat as a different type of meat is against the law.
In 2014, workers at Shanghai Husi Food Co. were caught picking meat off the floor and returning it to the production line. It was also revealed that the company was falsifying production dates and selling expired meat to customers. Some of these customers include major fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC. Most recently, cooking oil produced by a major Chinese state-run food company has been removed from online stores after concerns over contamination. Tankers used for transporting fuel were found to be carrying food products, such as cooking oil and syrup, and had not been cleaned correctly.
While the country continues to experience issues with food-related scandals, the government has made efforts to reform food safety. Laws have been passed focusing on standardization, enhanced monitoring, and improving compliance. Recent progress has, however, been limited partially by the huge scale of China’s food industry, which makes it difficult to maintain and monitor safety standards.
Following the aftermath of the China Milk Scandal, the government finalized and passed the Food Safety Law in 2009. This helped to establish a national system on food safety risk assessment and led to further government investment into monitoring and surveillance, which aided in improving data collection on food borne diseases and food contamination. The government has also committed to implementing measures to address food safety problems.
Within the dairy industry, the government has implemented drastic improvements for safe production and consumption of dairy products. Before 2008, China’s milk production was dominated by small-scale dairy producers. After the milk scandal, small-scale farms were considered one of the sources of the crisis and the Chinese government began to encourage large-scale and standardized farms to improve compliance with food safety regulations. Strict punishments were also administered to those involved in the contamination of milk products, which included the execution of Zhang Yujun, a dairy farmer, and Geng Jinping, a milk salesman.
Shanghai Husi Food Co. was fined more than $3.6 million and its parent company OSI Group’s China office was fined 7.3 million yuan ($1.1 million) for selling expired and unsanitary meat. In 2013 alone, authorities also seized 20,000 tons of illegal products and solved 382 cases of meat-related crimes involving the sale of toxic, diseased and counterfeit meat. In response to the country’s most recent food scandal, two drivers were arrested and three companies penalized for using unclean fuel tanks to transport cooking oil.
While the Chinese government has continued to improve and strengthen its national food safety standards, the country’s issues with enforcement and lack of adequate monitoring mechanisms have perpetuated these problems. These issues are further compounded by the widespread use of agrochemicals such as chemical fertilizer and pesticides.
The frequency and severity of food scandals has also negatively impacted public trust and the economy. Chinese consumers are willing to pay more for imported dairy products because they lack confidence in the safety of domestically produced dairy products. These food safety scandals have hurt Chinese people’s trust in local brands, which is exemplified by the rapid increase in infant formula and fresh milk imports.
"Quality of our food is a big concern for the middle class in China, especially if you have a family. Everyone in every city worries about this, whether you are in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, or Chengdu."
-Tian Hao, Chengdu resident
From 2009 to 2018, infant formula imports increased from 62.44 thousand tons to 323.10 thousand tons, and fresh milk imports increased from 12.78 thousand tons to 673.30 thousand tons. The increased supply of imported milk products has had a devastating effect on China’s dairy industry. In 2014, due to the large volume of imports, processors lowered milk prices or outright refused to purchase farmers’ milk, which pushed some dairy farmers to dump milk and slaughter their cows. Increased investment is imperative for further improvement of national food safety monitoring and surveillance systems. Sustainable farming practices should also be promoted and implemented to curb the use of potentially harmful chemicals.
