“Food safety problems are universal. A recent example is the colibacillus infection in Europe.” Luo added. “For any country, there’s no 100 percent guarantee of food safety, but 100 percent persistence to reduce the probability is a must. And we all need to learn from past lessons.” Talking about illegal additives, he emphasized that they should be banned completely and the relevant criminals convicted.

China is enhancing law enforcement against food safety violations. In the first half of this year more than 2,000 suspects have been detained, including 200 that were embroiled in tainted pork cases.

Regulations have also been amended in response to increasing food safety incidents. In the eighth amendment to the Criminal Law, which came into effect on May 1 this year, the minimum punishment for conviction of manufacturing and selling poisonous and harmful food has been changed from “detention” up to “imprisonment for a maximum of 5 years.” Food safety watchdogs found guilty of abuse of power in supervision and inspection and dereliction of duty can draw sentences of ten years’ imprisonment, up from the previous seven year maximum. In the first six months of this year 37 cases of food safety related malfeasance were established, involving 57 officials.

In the wake of the melamine incident in 2008 China enacted the Food Safety Law. But there is more to be done to China’s legal system to combat food safety crimes.

“The Food Safety Law has not been well complemented by Civil Law or Criminal Law, and the punishments are still too benign. The toughened penalties will make lawbreakers pay a higher price,” Luo Yunbo commented. He stressed that the laws should respond to new social issues, and keep pace with the times.

Xu Hu, deputy director of Public Order Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, noticed that there are some misapplications of justice. He gave an example. In May this year, when a case involving “lean pork powder” was being heard at a local court, it was revealed the criminals sold it in bulk, enough to feed tens of thousands of pigs. But the four prime culprits got lenient or suspended sentences. The reason was the reconciliation and compensation process conducted between the criminals and their victims.

Xu Hu added: “With consequences like this, the cost of lawbreaking is perceived as low, and the law will not really protect consumers and potential victims.”

It is said that food safety standards in China are in line with, or even higher in the case of some countries, than international norms. For instance, “lean pork powder” is banned in China while up to a certain maximum proportion is allowed in the U.S. China has more than 2,000 food additives under supervision, while the number in Japan is only some 400. Doing things this way surely has its costs, but it benefits the consumer.