Food Safety and Traceability in China: Crisis Precipitating Change

Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.― Milton Friedman

With the litany of food safety scandals occurring in China over the last several years’ food safety has become a topic of utmost national importance. Scandal has shaped the nation’s food safety legislative framework but more importantly these scandals have shaped the purchasing habits of Chinese consumers and significantly impacted the balance of international trade in China’s commodity markets. The growth and continued influx of imported foods in China has presented those international stakeholders with an existing foothold in China and those with an eye towards Chinese markets with a huge opportunity to take advantage of the world’s largest consumer base. Underlying these recent developments is an elementary motivation that transcends all this, the need for guaranteed safe foods to foster health and meet our most basic physiological requirement.

Crisis Precipitates Change:

In a previous article ,I outlined how I believe that given the cyclical occurrence of these food safety scandals the Chinese government’s knee jerk legislative response and implementation of increasingly stringent regulations were for the most part inadequate at stemming the tide of China’s food safety problems particularly given the increasing sophistication of food criminals in China. While the government has attempted to simultaneously address the trade balance and food safety issues by increasing the regulatory requirements for imported foods, (particularly for key sectors like dairy and infant formula, alcoholic beverages, health foods etc.) the impact of these changes in securing at least one safe food supply chain is offset by domestic counterfeiters and food criminals. While imported foods should represent a self-contained and well regulated supply chain the fact of the matter is that at the back end of this supply chain, food distribution and individual product authentication still remain a glaring weak link for China's regulators. In many of China’s common food distribution channels you cannot be entirely certain of the authenticity of products being sold and more importantly the safety of the ingredients being used.

Harnessing the Digital Zeitgeist: Consumer Empowerment through Application of Private Sector Traceability

• According to data compiled by the state affiliated China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) China has over 527 million mobile users.
• The percentage of Chinese accessing the internet via mobile platforms now exceeds those using laptops and PCs to access the internet
• China has over 205 million mobile shoppers.

 Private Sector Traceability: Enter Authenticateit

Authenticateit Pty. Ltd. is an Australian company which has developed and successfully launched a mobile app that alerts consumers if a product is potentially unsafe, unauthorized or counterfeit - simply by scanning the product's barcode . While Authenticateit app is designed to be utilized by almost any industry producing consumer products, its most relevant success has been in its partnership with Australian dairy cooperative Norco and their successful partnership right here in China. Despite traceability requirements being outlined in China’s finalized second food safety law no clear specifications or guidance documents have as yet been published. In the interim the industry is left scratching it heads on how to proceed and consumers are left at the mercy of food criminals….Until Now….

                                    Given the data on China’s current mobile internet usage in the context of China’s current food safety environment, it is inevitable that China’s mobile industry and food industry will intersect. The environment is perfect, a nation of some 1.4 billion,  hungry for safe food and the opportunity to empower the populace by harnessing the power of China’s digital zeitgeist and literally place authentication technologies in the palm of their hands. This represents the core value of Authenticateit, “consumer empowerment through implementation of mobile technologies" with a key goal of improving food safety for all. With the importance of this topic in China, Chemlinked in collaboration with our new partner Authenticateit are proud to announce our upcoming webinar on Traceability in China which will offer:

• In-depth analysis of traceability provisions in China’s food safety regulatory framework
• Current and historical application of traceability technologies
• An interview with Authenticateit founder Gennady Volchek
• In-depth case study of Norco’s implementation of mobile authentication here in China.