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New Food Scandal
China’s food safety is under challenge again， as media reports say a fewhundredthousand tons of rotten frozen meat products， dubbed“zombie meat”by social media users，have ended up on tables of millions， which shocks the public.
From January 1 through June 23， the General Administration of Customs officials had seized more than 420，000 tons of smuggled frozen products this year across the country， especially in coastal areas， including Guangdong Province， Guangxi Province and Tianjin Municipality，according to media reports
Those smuggled frozen productsinclude meat products such as beef， chicken and pork，as well as seafood like salmon and cod. Most of those products are rotten and unfit for human consumption.
According to an insider sur- named Cui， most of smuggled frozen meat productscome fromforeign countries’strategic food reserves which were prepared in case of war， with a large quantity coming from the United States.
According to Gao Guan， deputy secretary-general of the China Meat Association， many countries freeze and store meat to maintain strategic reserves and keep prices stable.Those long-expired meat products are more likely to enter the market when the strategic stocks are replaced.
In addition， it costs only 17 yuan per ton per year to keep such long-expired meat products in cold storage， so their prices are quite low too. Therefore， many illegal operators smuggle them into China to make profits through an illegal network of transportation， reprocessing and distribution chains. Most of rotten frozen meat flows into sidewalk snack booths and small restaurants in second-and thirdtier cities to avoid the strict quarantine inspection seen in first-tier cities.
More scarily， some media reports say many of smuggled meat products had been frozen for decades. This situation is not unique to China. In 2010， Russia uncovered a meat smuggling case which involved the strategic meat reserves of the United States， Brazil， Belgium and Canada that had been frozen for more than 30 years.
Crackdown on Illegal Smuggling of Frozen Meat
In a most-recent nationwide crackdown，nearly 100，000 tons of expired frozen meat products including chicken wings and beef，worth more than 3 billion yuan if sold， were confiscated by Chinese customs officials. The crackdown took place in June across 14 provinces and regions. According to the General Administration of Customs， some of those frozen meat productsare much older than their expiration dates suggest， with some being more than 40 years old.
Besides， as of June 2， customs officers broke up 21 gangs and arrested more than 130 suspects who are alleged to have smuggled and transported the meat， including two organized-crime bosses， during the crackdown.
According to a prosecutor， gang members colluded with foreign accomplices in the smuggling of frozen meat.
Authorities said they hope the seizure and arrests will help curb the illegal transport andsale of tainted meat.
Yang Bo， director of the AntiSmuggling Bureau under the Changsha Administration of Customs，meat products smuggled by gangs had not been inspected or quarantined， which may carry bacteria and viruses such as bird flu， foot-and-mouth disease as well as mad cow disease.
According to a report， pig trotters dating back to the 1970s and chicken wings dating back to the 1980s were discovered in the crackdown. Pig trottersand chicken wings are popular dishes in China’s restaurants.
Officials say those meat products appear black and cannot be directly sold to consumers.However，it is difficult for consumers to tell the difference，after the rotten frozen meat is prepared by restaurants.
This so-called “zombie meat” is transported by organized crime syndicates via Vietnam to border areas in Yunnan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region， where they are divided up and transported to cities where inspections are much less strict or even not carried out，and then sold to millions of unsuspecting restaurant and shop owners.
Authorities believe the frozen meat originated in Brazil and India prior to being shipped to Hong Kong and Vietnam， where it was stored for several decades.
Yang said the meat is often transported under poor conditions. Generally， the gangs use ordinary trucksto trans-port the meat increases costs instead of refrigerated trucks to save costs. After a long-time journey， the meat starts to rot and smell.
“It stank！ The entire truck was full. I almost threw up when I opened the doors，” says Zhang Tao， customs official who was present during the seizure，“The meat was clearly rotten.”
“The frozen meat is repeatedly thawed or even refrozen after it has already gone bad， which poses a serious threat to people’s health，” he added. Consumers may get life-threatening illnesses if they eat those products， according to Yang.
All the confiscated frozen meat has been destroyed， according to authorities. The General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Public Security will continue to investigate the illegal meat.
Call for More Efforts
Food safety issues have undermined customer confidence in China in recent years.Although the Chinese government has been filling the loopholes， there is still a long way to go to fully guarantee the food safety.
The China Food and Drug Administration， the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Cus- toms said they are stepping up efforts to crack down the smuggling of frozen meat.
The food safety watchdog has called for local authorities to be on the lookout for smuggled frozen meat after the scandal of zombie meat hit the media.
In addition， the China Food and Drug Administration （CFDA） also ask meat processors， storage businesses and catering companies not to buy or sell meat with unidentified origins， according to a statement published on the CFDA website.
Enterprises should notify the authorities if they have handled such meat since July 2014， the CFDA said， adding that they must not fabricate or tamper with records.Besides， the CFDA urged media outlets to objectively report food safety issues.
According to experts，in the fight against the smuggling of frozen meat， it is common to see that the meat has been frozen for couples of years， butsmuggling of decades-old as strategic meat reserveis a low-probablity event.
In addition to strict supervision， the government also needs to improve laws and regulations， strengthen accountability， and increase penalties to enhance food safety.
Call for Objective Reporting
Food safety is always the top concern for Chinese consumers. After hitting the media， the "zombie meat" triggered public uproar. However， the report that says the frozen meat seized by custom officials is 40 years old is under question.
According to a report released on June 30， Nanning police confiscated some frozen chicken feet produced in 1967 and some smuggled frozen meat was reserved food during WWII. However， the reports， which only cited vague sources， have been questioned and both Changsha and Nanning customs have denied seizing such aged meat. As above-mentioned， over the past years of anti-smuggling frozen meat， it is rare to see the seized meat that had been frozen for decades. Some cold chain supply experts also say that it would not be economic for smugglers to spend a large amount of money to preserve the meat for decades.
The report author surnamed Li is accused of fabrication by a reporter surnamed Hong from the Beijing SciTech Report. He said the sources of the report were vague and the "frozen chicken feet" mentioned in one of the two reports came from a report two years ago.
But Li denied fabricating the news and claimed that she interviewed authorities including the anti-smuggling bureau and verified core facts twice before releasing the report. However， she did not provide new evidence to prove its authenticity.
The Authorities are calling for objective reporting on food safety issues， to avoid unnecessary panic and spreading misinformation among the general public.
China’s food safety is under challenge again， as media reports say a fewhundredthousand tons of rotten frozen meat products， dubbed“zombie meat”by social media users，have ended up on tables of millions， which shocks the public.
From January 1 through June 23， the General Administration of Customs officials had seized more than 420，000 tons of smuggled frozen products this year across the country， especially in coastal areas， including Guangdong Province， Guangxi Province and Tianjin Municipality，according to media reports
Those smuggled frozen productsinclude meat products such as beef， chicken and pork，as well as seafood like salmon and cod. Most of those products are rotten and unfit for human consumption.
According to an insider sur- named Cui， most of smuggled frozen meat productscome fromforeign countries’strategic food reserves which were prepared in case of war， with a large quantity coming from the United States.
According to Gao Guan， deputy secretary-general of the China Meat Association， many countries freeze and store meat to maintain strategic reserves and keep prices stable.Those long-expired meat products are more likely to enter the market when the strategic stocks are replaced.
In addition， it costs only 17 yuan per ton per year to keep such long-expired meat products in cold storage， so their prices are quite low too. Therefore， many illegal operators smuggle them into China to make profits through an illegal network of transportation， reprocessing and distribution chains. Most of rotten frozen meat flows into sidewalk snack booths and small restaurants in second-and thirdtier cities to avoid the strict quarantine inspection seen in first-tier cities.
More scarily， some media reports say many of smuggled meat products had been frozen for decades. This situation is not unique to China. In 2010， Russia uncovered a meat smuggling case which involved the strategic meat reserves of the United States， Brazil， Belgium and Canada that had been frozen for more than 30 years.
Crackdown on Illegal Smuggling of Frozen Meat
In a most-recent nationwide crackdown，nearly 100，000 tons of expired frozen meat products including chicken wings and beef，worth more than 3 billion yuan if sold， were confiscated by Chinese customs officials. The crackdown took place in June across 14 provinces and regions. According to the General Administration of Customs， some of those frozen meat productsare much older than their expiration dates suggest， with some being more than 40 years old.
Besides， as of June 2， customs officers broke up 21 gangs and arrested more than 130 suspects who are alleged to have smuggled and transported the meat， including two organized-crime bosses， during the crackdown.
According to a prosecutor， gang members colluded with foreign accomplices in the smuggling of frozen meat.
Authorities said they hope the seizure and arrests will help curb the illegal transport andsale of tainted meat.
Yang Bo， director of the AntiSmuggling Bureau under the Changsha Administration of Customs，meat products smuggled by gangs had not been inspected or quarantined， which may carry bacteria and viruses such as bird flu， foot-and-mouth disease as well as mad cow disease.
According to a report， pig trotters dating back to the 1970s and chicken wings dating back to the 1980s were discovered in the crackdown. Pig trottersand chicken wings are popular dishes in China’s restaurants.
Officials say those meat products appear black and cannot be directly sold to consumers.However，it is difficult for consumers to tell the difference，after the rotten frozen meat is prepared by restaurants.
This so-called “zombie meat” is transported by organized crime syndicates via Vietnam to border areas in Yunnan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region， where they are divided up and transported to cities where inspections are much less strict or even not carried out，and then sold to millions of unsuspecting restaurant and shop owners.
Authorities believe the frozen meat originated in Brazil and India prior to being shipped to Hong Kong and Vietnam， where it was stored for several decades.
Yang said the meat is often transported under poor conditions. Generally， the gangs use ordinary trucksto trans-port the meat increases costs instead of refrigerated trucks to save costs. After a long-time journey， the meat starts to rot and smell.
“It stank！ The entire truck was full. I almost threw up when I opened the doors，” says Zhang Tao， customs official who was present during the seizure，“The meat was clearly rotten.”
“The frozen meat is repeatedly thawed or even refrozen after it has already gone bad， which poses a serious threat to people’s health，” he added. Consumers may get life-threatening illnesses if they eat those products， according to Yang.
All the confiscated frozen meat has been destroyed， according to authorities. The General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Public Security will continue to investigate the illegal meat.
Call for More Efforts
Food safety issues have undermined customer confidence in China in recent years.Although the Chinese government has been filling the loopholes， there is still a long way to go to fully guarantee the food safety.
The China Food and Drug Administration， the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Cus- toms said they are stepping up efforts to crack down the smuggling of frozen meat.
The food safety watchdog has called for local authorities to be on the lookout for smuggled frozen meat after the scandal of zombie meat hit the media.
In addition， the China Food and Drug Administration （CFDA） also ask meat processors， storage businesses and catering companies not to buy or sell meat with unidentified origins， according to a statement published on the CFDA website.
Enterprises should notify the authorities if they have handled such meat since July 2014， the CFDA said， adding that they must not fabricate or tamper with records.Besides， the CFDA urged media outlets to objectively report food safety issues.
According to experts，in the fight against the smuggling of frozen meat， it is common to see that the meat has been frozen for couples of years， butsmuggling of decades-old as strategic meat reserveis a low-probablity event.
In addition to strict supervision， the government also needs to improve laws and regulations， strengthen accountability， and increase penalties to enhance food safety.
Call for Objective Reporting
Food safety is always the top concern for Chinese consumers. After hitting the media， the "zombie meat" triggered public uproar. However， the report that says the frozen meat seized by custom officials is 40 years old is under question.
According to a report released on June 30， Nanning police confiscated some frozen chicken feet produced in 1967 and some smuggled frozen meat was reserved food during WWII. However， the reports， which only cited vague sources， have been questioned and both Changsha and Nanning customs have denied seizing such aged meat. As above-mentioned， over the past years of anti-smuggling frozen meat， it is rare to see the seized meat that had been frozen for decades. Some cold chain supply experts also say that it would not be economic for smugglers to spend a large amount of money to preserve the meat for decades.
The report author surnamed Li is accused of fabrication by a reporter surnamed Hong from the Beijing SciTech Report. He said the sources of the report were vague and the "frozen chicken feet" mentioned in one of the two reports came from a report two years ago.
But Li denied fabricating the news and claimed that she interviewed authorities including the anti-smuggling bureau and verified core facts twice before releasing the report. However， she did not provide new evidence to prove its authenticity.
The Authorities are calling for objective reporting on food safety issues， to avoid unnecessary panic and spreading misinformation among the general public.