China sees drop in foodborne disease outbreaks

BEIJING -- China has witnessed a notable decline in outbreaks of foodborne diseases, signaling positive progress on food-safety management, according to the country's National Health Commission.

The achievement is attributed to the implementation of a national food-safety risk-monitoring program, Cao Xuetao, deputy head of the NHC, said on Tuesday.

Foodborne diseases, commonly known as food poisoning, represent a critical global public health concern.

In recent years, the NHC has introduced three major monitoring systems to improve awareness of food-safety risks. These systems focus on monitoring individual cases of foodborne diseases, tracking outbreaks of such diseases, and establishing a molecular traceability network to identify the sources of foodborne illnesses.

According to the monitoring data from the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, over 46,000 cases of foodborne disease outbreaks were reported nationwide from 2010 to 2022, primarily in households and catering establishments.

Among them, household outbreaks were mainly due to accidental ingestion of wild poisonous mushrooms and contamination by pathogenic bacteria. In dining establishments, the emphasis should be on preventing bacterial foodborne diseases.