by Xinhua writers Li Baojie, Zhang Yao and Yu Li
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Ding Na has lost confidence in the farm produce sold in neighborhood markets following a spate of food scares.
Frustrated at the potential negative health effects of high levels of pesticide residue and hormones on vegetables and in meat for her little boy, Ding, a government employee in Beijing, has turned to organic food.
Four years ago, the 33-year-old started buying organic food in supermarkets. A year ago, she began to order vegetables, meat and eggs from an organic farm in the suburbs of Beijing.
"Of course, the cost is much higher, but we just spend the money to buy a sense of safety."
Beijing resident Liu Mingxi is also haunted by food safety. Liu has downloaded three apps to her mobile phone to find advice on safe things to eat. She also buys organic fruits and vegetables at a farmers' market held during the weekends.
Ding and Liu are not alone. According to a survey conducted by www.cnchemicals.com ahead of the annual sessions of the national legislature and political advisory body, which kicked off this week, food and drug safety came in third on a list of hot issues, outranked only by social security and the anti-corruption crackdown.
Young urban residents are increasingly turning to green and organic food. Many young parents even go to the trouble of buying infant formula from overseas.
China's food industry has faced a crisis of confidence amid a series of food scares in the past eight years, including cancer-causing turbot fish, melamine-tainted milk power, dyed steamed buns, cadmium-tainted rice and clenbuterol-contaminated pork.
Li Wu, a member of the national committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that besides the excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics, soil and water pollution are also a source of food contamination.
To address the widespread concern, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday said the government will strictly enforce laws and regulations, pledging the most stringent supervision and toughest punishment for unscrupulous producers and negligent officials.
In the government work report delivered Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, Li said the government will also set up a supervision system to cover the whole food production and logistics process as well as a traceability system.
Some NPC deputies said that Li's promise showed the central government's determination to tackle food safety.
The Chinese government has started to acknowledge the severe food safety situation and has sought to safeguard food safety with more mechanisms, laws and regulations, said NPC deputy Fu Qiping. The lawmaker suggested that the government raise the punishment for food safety violations.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the NPC annual session, said the top legislature will work on 68 bills in the next five years, including a revised food safety law.
According to draft amendments to the food safety law released in late October, China will triple the fines for severe food safety violations. Meanwhile, people jailed for food safety violations will be banned forever from the food industry.
He Tao, president of the Sichuan provincial restaurants and catering industry, echoed the premier's pledge.
"We are mulling setting up a credibility system involving suppliers, restaurants and the government to ensure food safety," said He.
Past food safety incidents have exposed loopholes in the food supply chain, and therefore regulators should beef up supervision over every link of the chain, He added.
"I hope the authorities will implement strict food industry supervision and raise the punishment for food safety violators," said Ding. "Otherwise, the consumer confidence in the domestic food industry will not fully recover."