Beijing sets up emergency plan for food safety accidents
15/1/2007 16:04
Two months after four people sued the city for delays in warning people
not to eat snails infested with parasites, Beijing has come up with a series of
alerts and actions it will take in the event of an outbreak of illness caused by
contaminated food.
When a food emergency occurs the city will immediately set
up teams to handle medical treatment, testing and assessment, news briefings and
investigations, according to a newly release emergency plan.
The city's food
safety authorities will also seize, ban or recall food products that are
determined to be harmful.
The city's quick response measures will involve the
municipal and county government departments of health, education, public
security and industry and commerce administrations in Beijing, the plan
said.
The plan was issued by the capital's emergency management office and
food safety office on Sunday.
Food safety has become of the top concerns of
city residents following a series of food-related accidents last
year.
Between June 24 and Aug. 9, dozens of people were sickened by a
parasite after eating raw or undercooked snails in a local restaurant. In
November, four people who were hospitalized after eating the snails launched a
suit against the city's health bureau, claiming the city didn't make public the
dangers posed by the snails until Aug. 17th. The results of their law suit were
not immediately known.
The country's food and drug regulator, the State Food
and Drug Administration, is evaluating food safety measures in 31 major
cities.
The campaign, in its fourth year in China, aims to evaluate the
performance of local government food safety supervision and citizen's
satisfaction with food safety over the past 12 months.
Xinhua
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