China Hopes Games Will Boost Food Safety Reputation
Chinese officials are strengthening food safety regulations during the Olympics to assuage the international anxiety generated by recent food scares. From the U.K. Guardian:
A successful Olympics will help convince the rest of the world that China’s food exports are safe to eat, a senior official in charge of food safety said as the country prepares to host the Olympic Games next month.
Beijing is going to great lengths to ensure a perfect Games, including growing vegetables at special bases and breeding “Olympic pork” after food quality issues gained international attention last year.
“We are doing this to ensure a safe food environment for international visitors, as currently, the most essential thing for China is the Olympic Games,” Wang Daning, head of import and export food safety at China’s quality administration, said in an interview at his office.
See also the Voice of America’s article covering some Olympians’ concerns about China’s food, and CDT’s coverage of China’s food safety record here.
Origin: Lucy Hornby, U.K. Guardian
POSTED COMMENTS: One Response
The “senior official” who expect a successful Olympics will help convince the rest of the world that China’s food exports are safe to eat is simply too naive. He/she really doesn’t know how the world works.
If there is zero incidents of food problems during the games, that would be considered the way it supposed to be, and nothing spectacular. Success in serving great food to athletes and officials during the game will give China a passing grade, no higher, as that is the standard. However, anything less will be consider to be a monumental failure.
It takes a lot more than just one event to boost image of food from China. And it takes hard work. I have no doubt China wants to do the hard work, has the will, the resources, and the authority to do the hard work. I am just not sure about the skill.