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Meeting the need for safer meals

By Yu Tianyu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-12 07:57

Organic vegetables being sold at a Beijing supermarket.

The names of toxic milk powder producers, such as Sanlu, were some of 2008's top 10 words typed into Google China's search engine last year. (Others were hurdler Liu Xiang who had to withdraw from Olympic competition due to an injury and Sichuan earthquake.)

Concern over food safety in China, something other countries have long complained about, finally hit home with the milk powder scandal and one positive response has been an upswing in the government's "Green Food" campaign in 2008.

The Ministry of Agriculture has its "Green Food" labeling program since 1990 to promote improved quality for foods destined to the local market.

And more Chinese are turning to it as a reliable source of safe nutrition, despite the higher cost.

"I buy more green food products now, especially for my 2-year-old son. Though they are more expensive, at least I don't need to worry about possible excessive pesticide residue and other safety concerns," said Liu Weide, an office worker in Beijing.

To better meet the rising demand for safer food, the Chinese government has taken increased measures to boost the output of green food products.

With strict supervision, control and regulation in the production, processing, packing, storage and transportation chain, Green Food ensures healthy quality control from field to table. It also monitors the amount and quality of pesticides, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, additives to ensure environmental and product safety.

That's according to the China Green Food Development Center, founded in 1992, a specialized agency responsible for the national development and management of Green Food in supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

To date the MOA has issued 102 requirements while local government issued 235 requirements, said Wang Yunhao, director of China Green Food Development Center.

Overall, the standards of Chinese green food are equal to world-leading levels, Wang claims.

China has certified a total 180,000 types of green food products. About 1,000 national or provincial-level key enterprises have been certified green, with annual sales of over 200 billion yuan, according to MOA's statistics.

A random green food supervision system has also been set up.

In the past three years, 15 percent of the green food products were randomly checked annually in supermarkets and production facilities and over 98 percent of it met the standards.

More than 400 supermarkets, shops and other commercial bodies have been brought into the market supervision system, Wang said.

In 2007, domestic sales of green food reached 200 billion yuan, and China exported over $2.1 billion worth of it, which accounted for 7 percent of the country's agricultural product export.

There are 219 large standardized green food production bases across the country, covering an area of about 3.8 million hectares, with a production capacity of over 29 million tons.

According to a government report, over 6.4 million farming households have benefited from the industry.

Last August, a White Paper on China's Food Quality and Safety Conditions was released. It said that Chinese exported green food was authorized by more than 40 trading nations while China's green food exports grew annually by over 40 percent in the past five years.

Since last December, China set up over 300 green food franchise stores across the country, selling over 2,000 food and products at standard prices.

The first demonstration store opened in Beijing's Fengtai district and there will be at least one store in each of 18 districts and counties of Beijing.

Hu Dinghuan, an expert of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said prices of green agricultural products are twice that of "non-green" counterparts.

He said that green food is not a luxury, and the price should be kept 20 percent higher than traditional food at most.

Experts said farm products labeled "green food" are available at higher prices in supermarkets but more popular. The market demand is still expanding rapidly.

In addition, many foreign food suppliers and retailers have added to China's green food campaign with competitive products and international standards for green food production.

Carrefour mode

As one of world-leading supermarkets with more than 130 outlets in China, Carrefour also promotes its green food philosophy in China.

They introduced so-called Carrefour Quality Line (CQL) to China, which stands for the company's standards of green food, said Chen Bo, corporate communications manager of Carrefour China.

Standards for CQL products are in line with world-leading green food requirements, sometimes stricter than Chinese standards, he said.

The company controls each step from farm to store including growing, processing, packaging to deliver, in an effort to ensure taste, safety and traceability to consumers while also guaranteeing some added-values, including higher income for farmers and environmentally friendly practices.

The company also set up direct partnerships with farmers. Producers and growers must follow strictly Carrefour's specifications to ensure that those commitments are respected.

"We check our suppliers or producers all year round by both internal and external experts. Moreover we carry out regular sampling and testing on pesticides, heavy metals and so on, at external labs," said Chen.

"As a counterpart, we buy CQL products from those selected farmers at a higher rate than market price and provide advice and training to increase farmer's know-how," he added.

The company cut all the middlemen in the supply chain, which allows the stores to pay more farmers and keep prices competitive.

"Prices of our CQL produces are roughly 20 percent to 80 percent higher than traditional products, but prices of organic food in the Chinese market are at least doubled, or even 5 to 6 times more expensive than traditional products," he said.

Carrefour's CQL products give the opportunity to open new markets for small producers.

For example, a CQL Fujian pomelo supplier, who has been cooperating with Carrefour for years, is now selling his pomelos to Europe. Recently he built a new packing plant and introduced a new advanced packing line and also plans to extend his orchards.

(China Daily 01/12/2009 page5)