Jiehong Zhou (Zhejiang University, China), Shaosheng Jin (Zhejiang University, China) (2013)  Food Safety Management in China. A Perspective from Food Quality Control System. Singapore: World Scientific; Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2013. xi + 228 pp. ISBN 978-981-4447-75-1  http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/8689#t=aboutBook

Review

Jakob A. Klein (2014). Review of ‘Food Safety Management in China: A Perspective from Food Quality Control System’ The China Quarterly, 217, pp 292-293. doi:10.1017/S0305741014000204.

Jakob A. Klein is lecturer in social anthropology at SOAS, University of London, and deputy chair of the SOAS Food Studies Centre. His publications include “Everyday Approaches to Food Safety in Kunming,” The China Quarterly, No. 214 (2013) and, co-edited with Yuson Jung and Melissa L. Caldwell, Ethical Eating in the Postsocialist and Socialist World (forthcoming, University of California Press).

Abstract of the book

In recent years, China has taken a number of effective measures to strengthen the supervision of food quality and safety, but food safety incidents still occur sometimes. The recurrence and intractability of such incidents suggest that, in addition to the imperfect supervision system, the greatest obstacle to China’s food quality safety management is that China’s “farm to fork” food supply chain has too many stages, the members on the supply chain have not form a stable strategic and cooperative relation, and on the other hand, during the transitional period, some practitioners lack social responsibility. Therefore, China’s food quality safety management and the establishment of food quality and safety traceability system should follow the development trend of international food quality and safety supervision, and should combine with the establishment of China’s agricultural industrialization and standardization, integrate China’s existing but isolated effective measures, such as the establishment of bases for the implementation of the system of claiming certificates or invoices, for the performance of Management Regulations for Pig Slaughtering and Quarantine Inspection in Designated Places, and for the conduct of World Expo, as well as the establishment of market access system, take into consideration the demand, the dynamic mechanism, and the performance of important measures of food supply chain members for food quality and safety control, as well as the difficulties and the deep-seated reasons in the implementation process of such measures.

To this end, this book chooses important agricultural products of vegetables, pork and aquatic products as the subjects investigated. From an “integrated” vertical perspective of the supply chain and according to the degree of industrialization of different products, focusing on the key links of quality and safety control of vegetables, pork and aquatic products, this book carries out empirical analysis of the construction of food quality and safety control system, such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) quality control system and food quality and safety traceability system, deeply analyzes and straightens out the dynamic mechanism and the performance of different business entities implementing the food quality and safety management system, as well as the bottleneck and deep-seated causes of promoting advanced experience of pilot areas and enterprises in China, and put forward ideas and suggestions of establishing long-term effective food quality and safety management system with regard to vegetables, pork, and aquatic products, which can provide scientific basis for the government to design food quality and safety management policies.

Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 1: Overview of Food Safety Management in China (499 KB)

Contents

• Overview of Food Safety Management in China
• Safety of Vegetables and the Use of Pesticides by Farmers in China
• Adoption of Food Safety and Quality Standards by China’s Agricultural Cooperatives
• Implementation of Food Safety and Quality Standards: A Case Study of the Vegetable Processing Industry in Zhejiang, China
• Adoption of HACCP System in the Chinese Food Industry: A Comparative Analysis
• An Empirical Analysis of the Implementation of Vegetable Quality and Safety Traceability Systems Centering on Wholesale Markets
• Investment in Voluntary Traceability: Analysis of Chinese Hog Slaughterhouses and Processors
• Quality Perception, Safer Behavior Management and Control of Aquaculture: Experience of Exporting Enterprises of Zhejiang Province, China
• Outlook for China’s Food Safety Situation and Policy Recommendations

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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