Alert system included in food safety plan
Real-time images of different scenes during the food safety drill on screen.
An alert rating mechanism has been introduced in the newly amended version of Shanghai's food safety incident contingency plan, the city's market watchdog announced on Wednesday.
The four-tier rating system is based on the seriousness of food safety risks and the probability of the occurrence of food safety incidents, the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation said.
The city's previous food safety incident rating standard has also been improved in the amended version, making situations such as "contaminated food flowing into two or more districts and causing probable serious impact on the public's health" as "major" food safety accidents to safeguard people's health, the administration said.
The amended version also includes expert teams whose duties involve evaluating the impact of food safety accidents and suggestions on the tracking, recall and sealing of contaminated foods, the administration said.
The amendment aims to make the plan more scientific and operational, said Chen Xuejun, director of the administration.
A food safety drill in preparation for the third China International Import Expo was conducted in the Pudong New Area on Wednesday afternoon, simulating a situation where about 100 employees of two companies were sickened in a suspected food poisoning incident related to lunch boxes from a food company.
