according to the current situation of our food safety, analyze the reasons of potential safety hazards and think about countermeasures

food refers to all kinds of finished products and raw materials for human consumption or drinking, as well as articles that are traditionally both food and medicine, but do not include articles for the purpose of treatment. With the globalization of economy, food hygiene and safety have become a hot topic of great concern. In recent years, vicious incidents of food safety have occurred in some countries and regions in the world. With the extensive use of chemicals and new technologies in food processing, new food safety problems have emerged. Although modern science and technology have developed to a considerable level, food-borne diseases have not been effectively controlled in both developed and developing countries, which still seriously endanger people's health and become one of the most concerned health problems in the world today. Therefore, as far as the seriousness of food safety itself is concerned, it is still urgent to attach importance to and vigorously solve this problem.

key words: current situation of food safety hazards and suggestions on the supervision of food-borne diseases

1. Preface

There is a saying in China: Food is the most important thing for people. Food is the most basic material condition for human survival and development. China has another saying: Illness comes from the mouth. The unsafe quality of food will affect people's health. Food safety is related to the life, survival and continuity of all mankind, and it is an important subject of human development. It is precisely because of the great potential of the food market that with the continuous improvement of people's living standards, China's food processing industry has achieved unprecedented development in recent years, making various new foods emerge one after another. Every day, as long as we turn on the TV and read the newspaper, we can see a large number of various food advertisements. Take to the streets, whether in shopping malls, supermarkets or even street stalls, food occupies the main share of the market. In the recent period, with the further improvement of transparency in all walks of life, food quality problems have been exposed by the media frequently, which directly led to the safety of the food industry becoming a major theme that people are most concerned about. Nowadays, food safety has become a "big worry" for Chinese consumers, which is related to the health and safety of consumers and even the next generation, and is one of the most important threats to the health of the public at present. Therefore, paying attention to food safety has become an important aspect to measure people's quality of life, social management level and national legal system construction. While seeing the problems of food safety in the world, we should understand the problems and shortcomings of China's food safety legal system. Relevant government departments at all levels should attach great importance to this issue, further strengthen and improve China's food safety legal system, and keep pace with the times, which is particularly important and urgent at present.

second, the current situation of food safety in China

for a long time, reports on all kinds of inferior foods have almost become a major topic that we can see in the media every once in a while. For example, we can make a long list about inferior milk powder, inferior flour, inferior rice, inferior bean products, dyed white vermicelli, water-injected meat, Sudan red and the melamine incident that is now raging. These frequently exposed shady scenes in food processing are no longer unfamiliar to consumers. The supervision departments at all levels have never stopped the law enforcement inspection, and will intensify the law enforcement inspection before New Year's Day, Spring Festival and other major festivals every year. In 2117, they also conducted a nationwide investigation of food safety hazards. Various laws and regulations have been formulated one after another, such as the Food Hygiene Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products, and the Regulations of Guangdong Province on the Quality and Safety of Edible Agricultural Products. It can be seen that China has an iron wrist in rectifying food safety. However, it is puzzling that in recent years, the supervision departments at all levels have not worked hard, but inferior foods are still emerging one after another, just as the food containing "melamine" is constantly exposed, which seriously threatens people's lives and health and makes us nervous at times. At present, there are five major problems in the field of food safety in China: food-borne diseases caused by microorganisms, pesticide residues and veterinary drug residues in planting and breeding, weak awareness of law-abiding by producers and operators, food safety problems brought about by the application of new food production technologies, and environmental impact on food safety. These problems have led to a very uneven development of China's food production industry.

There have been two major food safety incidents in China, which are still worrying. One was an outbreak of hepatitis A epidemic in Shanghai in early 1988, when people ate contaminated Scapharca subcrenata. At that time, there were 311,111 patients, causing many deaths, restricting Shanghai residents' travel (referring to other places), returning food exports and causing heavy economic losses. The other was the avian flu that occurred in Hong Kong in February, 1997, which had a great impact on the export of poultry meat in China. In recent years, major food safety incidents that endanger people's health and even life have occurred frequently, and their number and degree of harm are on the rise. For example, in 2111, the case of adding "white sugar" to white sugar in Zhejiang Province; Chongqing "Maofashui" soy sauce case; Cases of inferior rice in Guangdong province; Poisoning cases of puffer fish in Jiangxi province; Mutton case with unknown cause of death in Inner Mongolia; Tianjin infusion bottle filled with soy sauce case; Cases of processed food from dead pork in Jiangxi Province; Cases of illegal processing of fake and inferior food in Chongqing; Eating pork containing clenbuterol (clenbuterol hydrochloride) caused more than 61 food poisoning cases in Hangzhou and more than 111 food poisoning cases in Xinyi County, Guangdong Province; Then to today's malachite green, Sudan red, big-headed baby, melamine cases and so on. In addition, incidents involving food poisoning caused by fake wine, pesticide residues, and the addition of prohibited substances in food or feed have occurred from time to time, resulting in deaths and a large number of people being hospitalized collectively. According to experts' estimation, the total number of people involved in food poisoning reports in China is 21,111-41,111 each year, but this figure is less than one tenth of the actual number, which means that the number of people suffering from food poisoning in China is about 211,111-411,111 each year. Judging from various cases and figures, it is enough to shock us. This time bomb is around us and will explode at any time. Therefore, it is urgent to rectify food safety, improve food safety factor, and make us eat safely and safely.

Third, the main factors that have hidden dangers in food safety

Looking back on this series of food problems carefully, it is found that it is not accidental coincidence, but the result of the interaction of many socio-economic and moral factors under the current special conditions. First of all, improper operation of agricultural products planting and food processing, abuse of pesticides and fertilizers, pollution in the processing process, etc. In addition, China is currently in the transition period from a planned economy to a market economy, and the original system is obviously "inadequate" under the new economic situation, which provides an opportunity for some lawless elements to take advantage of the blind spots and loopholes in the current law and make a lot of fakes to seek illegal profits. At present, the indifference of the public to the concept of food safety has greatly aggravated the danger of food safety. In addition, the moral concept of "money first" and "profit first" in the current society has undoubtedly deepened the harm of counterfeiters. Looking at various reasons, we can easily find that the current food safety problem is not an isolated phenomenon, but is closely related to our current special social environment.

(1) Analysis of the causes of food safety hazards from the aspects of diseases and poisoning

1. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other harmful substances remain in agricultural products

Due to excessive application and improper use of pesticides, food poisoning incidents caused by pesticides occur frequently every year in China, especially organophosphorus poisoning left in vegetables. After being absorbed by the human body, the residual organophosphorus in vegetables is transported to various organs of the whole body through blood, leading to poisoning and even life-threatening in severe cases. The phenomenon that organophosphorus residues in agricultural products in China exceed the national standards is more prominent. In addition, a large number of chemical fertilizers are applied to crops in excess or unreasonably every year in China, which makes the residue of chemical fertilizers in the soil heavier and heavier. Vegetables produced by improper application and abuse of chemical fertilizers pose no less threat to human health than pesticides remaining in vegetables. Nitrate itself is not toxic, but it will be reduced to nitrite under the action of bacteria in human mouth and gastrointestinal tract. When nitrite is accumulated in large quantities, it may cause poisoning, and long-term intake can induce canceration of digestive tract system. Epidemiological experiments have proved that nitrate, nitrite and amine compounds inherent in food are precursors of nitrosamines, and the cancer-inducing time of nitrosamines is shortened with the increase of human intake.

2. Antibiotics, hormones and other harmful substances remain in poultry, livestock and aquatic products

In order to prevent and treat diseases of poultry, livestock and aquatic products, a large number of chemical drugs such as antibiotics and sulfonamides are used, which often causes drugs to remain in animal tissues. Veterinary drug residues include both the original drug and the metabolites of the drug in animals. In food, the potential health and safety problems will increase due to the side effects of drugs themselves or the growth of drug-resistant bacterial populations. In recent years, clenbuterol hydrochloride ("Clenbuterol") stimulant has been widely used in China because it can make poultry and livestock produce enough lean meat, thus causing more consumers who eat food with "Clenbuterol" residue to cause poisoning reactions and even death in severe cases.

3. Heavy metal pollution

Heavy metal pollution has a very serious impact on food safety, and it belongs to the category of chemical pollution. According to the analysis, cadmium pollution is more serious, followed by mercury and lead. Most metals are accumulative in the body and have a long half-life, which can produce acute and chronic toxic reactions, and may also have potential hazards of teratogenesis, carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. At present, the lead pollution of children in China is serious.

4. Excessive use of food additives

Excessive use may cause harm to human body. After testing by the quality and technical supervision department, whitening agent "benzoyl peroxide" was added to flour five times over the limit; Benzoic acid is used in pickled vegetables more than 21 times over the standard; Chemically synthesized sweeteners used in beverages that exceed the standard many times, and so on.

5. Toxin pollution

Toxin pollution is a very serious food safety problem at present. Toxins mainly come from nature. For example, in recent years, there have been frequent incidents of "poisoned rice" in China, which is aflatoxin pollution.

6. Abuse of chemical additives for non-food processing

In the process of food processing and manufacturing, illegal use and addition of chemical substances beyond the scope permitted by food laws and regulations (most of which are harmful to human health). For example, to improve the taste of rice flour and yuba, use "hanging white block" (a chemical raw material, the scientific name is sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate) and so on.

7. Using inferior raw materials in food manufacturing

Using inferior raw materials in processed food poses great hidden dangers to food safety. Such as: processing cooked meat products with dead livestock and poultry; Processing fried foods with "waste oil".

8. Fake and shoddy food

In recent years, fake and shoddy food has been rampant in some areas, especially in rural areas. Such as: soy sauce and vinegar mixed with chemical synthetic substances; Using industrial alcohol to make fake wine, methanol to fake white wine, etc.

9. Improper control of pathogenic microorganisms

The raw materials and processing degree of food determine that it has certain conditions for microbial growth, and a little carelessness in food processing, manufacturing, packaging, storage and transportation will lead to a large number of microbial reproduction. Most of the collective food poisoning in China is caused by microorganisms. In China, pathogenic microorganisms that are easy to cause food poisoning mainly include pathogenic Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella and so on. Food poisoning caused by pathogenic microorganisms occurs every year, especially in summer and autumn when the temperature is high.

11. Corrupt and deteriorated foods are on the market.

Animals and plants are the main components of foods. These substances will undergo a series of chemical and biological changes under certain conditions, resulting in various substances harmful to human body. For example, spoiled fresh milk, yogurt, fresh meat and so on.

11. Potential dangers of genetically modified foods

The emergence of biotechnology products also brings about safety problems. Nowadays, genetically modified food has already been put on people's table, and it also has potential dangers: it may damage human immune system (marker gene); May produce allergic syndrome; May be toxic to humans; Harmful to the environment and ecosystem; There are unknown hazards to human beings and the human body.

(2) Analyze the factors of food safety hidden danger from the aspects of food safety supervision and the quality of operators

Although the government has always attached importance to food safety and made many efforts, food safety is restricted by social and economic development, scientific and technological progress and people's living standards, and there are still various problems in China's food safety at present. Among them, the problem in the field of food production and processing is the most serious, and the vast majority of food processing enterprises are relatively small. Of the more than 7.5 million small food processing workshops and stalls in China, 81% are manual workshops with less than 11 people, with backward technology and extremely poor sanitary conditions. 21% ~ 31% do not meet the industry standards, the phenomenon of excessive use of food additives is more serious, and the food nutrition index cannot meet the requirements. In addition, the food circulation order is chaotic. There are more than 3.5 million food business enterprises in China, most of which are individual industrial and commercial households. They lack the necessary food storage and transportation facilities, and their management is backward. Some food wholesale markets lack effective safety testing methods and quality control measures. The food hygiene conditions in the food consumption link are poor, some catering operators are not qualified to operate, almost all catering departments will not conduct scientific inspection on food raw materials, and lack control measures for disease prevention.

1. Asymmetric and incomplete market information

The existence of incomplete information leads to immoral behavior and market chaos, resulting in market failure. In the market economy, producers and operators pursue the maximization of benefits and consumers pursue the maximization of utility. Only when they get enough information about the characteristics of food, can they realize the effective allocation of social resources. However, due to the characteristics of food safety and quality, buyers and sellers in the food market are also faced with incomplete information about food safety, but in contrast, food producers, processors and sellers know more about food safety information such as pesticide residues and microbial pollution than consumers. Driven by the principle of maximizing personal interests, food producers and operators with information advantages will consciously or unconsciously use their own information advantages to provide false, omitted, outdated or misleading information, and even adopt immoral means to produce and sell those fake and shoddy products to customers. Consumers are always at a disadvantage in the possession of information such as the right to know and the right to choose, and it is difficult to make a correct judgment on the safety of the selected food, which may lead to the failure of the "survival of the fittest" mechanism in the market economy, resulting in the phenomenon that low-quality inferior food drives out high-quality high-quality food, which will eventually lead to disorder in the food market.

2. Externality of food safety

Because regular manufacturers have not been compensated for external benefits, while informal manufacturers have not paid the price for external hazards, the result is that if they only rely on the price mechanism of the market, the behavior of illegal food suppliers can harm others without considering the opportunity cost of causing damage, and at the same time they can get marginal benefits brought by regular manufacturers. The situation of regular manufacturers is the opposite. The failure of the price mechanism is also the failure of the market. In this case, fake and inferior products are produced.

3. Interest conflict between enterprises and consumers.