Chen Hao: The food safety risk monitoring network gradually covers the whole country

Putting posts for food safety

—— Minister of Health Chen Xi talks about food safety risk monitoring and evaluation

Food is food to safety first. Melamine, plasticizers, and "drainage oils" ... These harmful factors in foods pose a health risk and are anxious.

The Ministry of Health, which undertakes the task of monitoring and assessing food safety risks, how do we keep posts for people's diets? How to provide technical support when cracking down on illegal food businesses? Xinhua News Agency reporter recently interviewed Minister of Health Chen Hao.

Food safety risk monitoring and evaluation system established and implemented

Q: China's Food Safety Law promulgated in 2009 stipulates that we must establish and implement a food safety risk monitoring and evaluation system. What is included in this system? What is the role of promoting food safety management?

Answer: The risk monitoring and evaluation system is an important system established by the Food Safety Law. Domestic and foreign practice has proved that there is no "zero risk" in food safety. To cope with the continuous exposure to food safety issues, the international community generally adopts a food safety risk assessment method to assess the risk to human health caused by harmful factors in food, and is formulated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). Scientific measures for food safety regulatory control measures and standards.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law and its implementation regulations, the Ministry of Health established and established an expert committee on national food safety risk assessment in 2009, and established relevant rules and regulations for expert committees. A series of management systems including the "Regulations on the Administration of Risk Assessment of Food Safety (Trial)" and the "Regulations on the Supervision and Management of Food Safety Risks (Trial)" have been issued. Lead the organization to formulate and implement the annual national food safety risk monitoring plan, and all localities shall formulate and implement risk monitoring programs for the region in accordance with the national plan. We will further expand the surveillance and monitoring of food-borne disease hidden dangers in medical institutions, improve the network system, and promptly organize and carry out assessments of hidden dangers.

Through food safety risk monitoring and assessment, it can provide scientific basis for formulating or revising national standards for food safety, identify key areas for supervision and management, and discover hidden dangers in food safety. At the same time, by timely reporting the results of risk monitoring and assessment to various food safety regulatory agencies, it is possible to prevent and control the occurrence of food safety accidents, and improve the pertinence of supervision and enforcement.

Food safety risk monitoring network gradually covers the whole country

Q: What is the progress of food safety risk monitoring and evaluation?

A: We have gradually established a nationwide food safety risk monitoring network. Since the implementation of the Food Safety Law, the food safety risk monitoring system has been initially established and the national food safety risk monitoring plan has been implemented for two consecutive years. This provides an important basis for comprehensively grasping the state of food safety in the country and carrying out targeted regulatory enforcement. At present, a total of 1,196 monitoring sites for chemical pollutants, food additives, and food-borne pathogenic microorganisms have been set up across the country, covering 100% of provinces, 73% of municipalities, and 25% of counties. Active monitoring has been conducted in 416 medical institutions. Foodborne abnormalities or health events. In addition, we also conducted a series of emergency and routine food safety risk assessment projects, and completed basic risk assessments such as melamine, acrylamide, Sudan red, chloropropanol, bromate, and dioxin pollution.

While building a food safety risk monitoring network, we strive to improve our food safety risk monitoring and evaluation work. Establish and improve risk monitoring and evaluation system standards, improve corresponding working mechanisms and procedures, establish national food safety risk monitoring reference laboratories, illegal additives in foods, and testing of radioactive materials; establish a monitoring data sharing platform and research and establish risk assessment models. , Continuously improve the ability of food safety risk monitoring and evaluation. Especially under the great attention of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and with the support of relevant departments, the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center was formally established in October last year. I believe that the establishment of the evaluation center will improve the food safety technical support system and further improve the The level of risk monitoring and assessment plays an important role.

Inclusion of illegal additives in food is "blacklisted"

Q: What kind of technical support was provided by the Ministry of Health in the special campaign to crack down on illegal additives and crack down on "oil waste" in the country?

A: The Ministry of Health has organized and researched and proposed a "black list" of illegal additives and abuse of food additives in food and its detection methods. A total of 64 batches of illegal food additives and 22 food additive additives have been released in six batches. After the “plasticizer” pollution incident in Taiwan last year, the Ministry of Health promptly included 17 kinds of phthalate esters (plasticizers) on the “black list” and set a provisional limit value. In cooperation with the public security department to crack down on illegal oil and gas crimes, we organized the research and demonstration of the “oil waste” inspection method and established a “gutter” composed of experts in the areas of oil processing, food safety, sanitary inspection, and chemical analysis. The Oil Inspection Experts Group organized an emergency inspection of the toxic and hazardous substances in the “ditch oil” and actively responded to social concerns.

Q: What are the main contents of the 2012 National Food Safety Risk Monitoring Plan that the Ministry of Health is currently implementing?

A: According to the State Council's requirements for food safety work, the 2012 National Food Safety Risk Monitoring Plan includes four priorities: First, the development of dairy products, edible oils, health foods, fresh meat and meat products, food additives, alcoholic drinks, and banned pesticides. Food safety monitoring with veterinary drugs, illegal food additives, etc.; secondly, it will continue to strengthen the monitoring of radioactive substances in foods in response to nuclear accidents at Japan's nuclear power plants; and thirdly, it will increase the use of key locations such as schools, farmers' markets, bazaars, and wholesale markets. Monitoring; Fourth, active monitoring of foodborne diseases is carried out through sentinel hospitals, and a traceability platform for the etiology of foodborne diseases is established to promptly and accurately identify problem foods and pathogenic agents.

Accelerate the Development of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center

Q: The National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center was established on October 13, 2011. What is the current situation of the establishment and work of the center?

A: The National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center is a public health institution that is responsible for technical support for food safety risk assessment, monitoring, early warning, and exchange. It implements the management system of the council, and the Ministry of Health is the chairman unit. At the same time, the Ministry of Health is also responsible for the day-to-day management of the party's party affairs, administration, logistics, etc. The State Council Food Safety Office and the Ministry of Agriculture are the vice chairman units, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Food and Drug Administration, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the national food safety risk assessment. The center is the governing unit.

At present, according to the provisions of the “Construction Plan” and the Articles of Association, under the supervision of the Council’s decision-making, under the technical guidance of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Expert Committee and the National Food Quality Standards Review Committee, work has been fully implemented. The following are some of the key tasks:

The first is to strengthen the system construction. Seriously sort out all duties, establish and improve the supporting work system, strengthen internal management, and carry out work in accordance with the law in accordance with procedures.

The second is to establish a good working mechanism. With the working principle of “establishing, working, and standardizing”, we set up offices scientifically, established working mechanisms for close cooperation, coordinated development, and efficient operation, and at the same time, we must also do a good job of technical support in order to complete timely, accurate, and high-quality work. Tasks assigned by the government.

The third is to strengthen the building of a talent team. The evaluation center is mainly composed of food safety personnel from the Nutrition and Food Safety Institute of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There are relatively few professionals and weak capabilities. The next step will be to reform and innovate and actively explore the establishment of incentive and incentive mechanisms for attracting talents and cultivating talents, and vigorously introduce and retain talents. Here, I particularly want to call the talents and leading figures with relevant professional backgrounds through the media to work in the center. We will provide a broad space for development and excellent working conditions.

The fourth is to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and promote information sharing. Establish technical cooperation and exchange mechanisms related to food safety agencies, universities and colleges at home and abroad. Integrate resources and use network technology to establish and improve national, provincial, municipal, and county risk monitoring information systems to improve forecasting, early warning, and analytical reporting capabilities.

The fifth is to carry out risk communication. Actively track the latest developments in international and domestic food safety, pay attention to social hot spots and food safety difficulties, and provide scientific advice for national food safety supervision. Strengthen the exchanges with enterprises and consumers, turn professional scientific assessment techniques into understandable popular science knowledge, and help the whole society to scientifically understand food safety issues.

Q: What direction has been set for the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center during the 12th Five-Year Plan period?

A: The National Food Safety Supervision System Plan (2011-2015) during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” led by the State Council’s Food Safety Office has decided to include evaluation center construction in key construction projects and will be in infrastructure, personnel, equipment and equipment. Increase investment in other areas. It is believed that under the support of each member unit of the evaluation center council and relevant departments, the evaluation center will accelerate development and by the end of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”, it will become a food safety organization with a reasonable talent structure, adequate technology reserves, scientific credibility, and international influence. The authoritative technical institutes also established the national center as the leading and local risk assessment technical support organization as the support, and coordinated the efficient and smooth operation of the national food safety risk assessment system.