China Food Manufacturers Get Caught with Hand in the Cookie Jar

Substances commonly used as industrial dyes, insecticides and
drain cleaners were included on a list of illegal food additives
China released Monday as part of a month-long government crackdown
aimed at improving the country’s shoddy food safety record. 
Among the 17 banned substances was boric acid, commonly used as an
insecticide, which is mixed with noodles and meatballs to increase
elasticity, a statement posted on the Ministry of Health Web site
said.  Also forbidden was industrial formaldehyde and lye,
used in making soap and drain cleaner and added to water used to
soak some types of dried seafood to make the products appear
fresher and bigger.

Sure, it finally took the melamine scandal to get them going, but
you’re going to see food producers using more standards,
better processes and better technology to comply with China’s
upcoming food safety legislation.  For example, Vitova, a
leading Enterprise Content Management (ECM) vendor in China, will
be providing a Food Safety Information Management Platform (FSIMP),
that includes Ross Enterprise as the only ERP solution, for the
Henan Provincial Bureau of Commerce in China.  Henan is
currently the most populous province in China and is known for its
rapidly-growing food manufacturing industry.  Food producers
are expected to use this platform on a subscription-as-a-service
basis to help them comply with applicable laws, rules and
regulations. 

So will these companies be proactive in replacing these banned
additives with other ingredients or now use a system that tracks,
traces, complies and reports on best practices on how these
companies will continue to use these banned ingredients?  With
different standards for dairy, meat and agriculture in place today,
will this new regulatory body develop a standard reporting
mechanism with consistent standards for all consumables?

When it comes to corporate and social responsibility versus the
risk of profits, will companies be proactive or reactive? Surely a
competitive edge exists for those that take a proactive approach
here, especially as the regulations start to emerge.  There
are those that will see this as a way to promote product
stewardship and stand above the rest, while others may see it as
nothing more than another industry watchdog.  Either way
– consumer beware.  At least China is on its way to
developing the standards and the compliance reporting to support
domestic and exported consumables.

It almost begs the question – does ethical or non-ethical
behavior drive regulations?  Will companies obey just to
fulfill the need to comply or to stand above the crowd?