Experts say that washing or boiling does not remove heavy metals from vegetables, which can cause health problems as it accumulates.

There are two major factors that play an important role in China's food safety situation: too much pesticide used in vegetable growing and an excessive amount of food additives used in food processing, according to Cao Zhongsheng, Chief of the Consumer Protection Department in the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce.

According to Chen of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, microbes, or food poisoning, are the number one criminal in food safety in China. Microbes make up 98.5 percent of food poisoning cases, while chemicals and natural poisons comprise only 0.7 and 0.8 percent.

China now has some 7 million food processing units, 80 percent of which are small workshops that are backward in processing techniques and poor in hygiene. Between 20 and 30 percent of them fail to meet industry standards.

"The diffusion of industry distribution of such small food processing plants makes it difficult for the government to manage them," said Cao.

What to do

On April 17 the State Council released a national plan for food and drug safety, which stated that China will have a basic food safety system by 2010, including detailed objectives such as extending food safety monitoring to cover 95 percent of food.

Starting in 2001 the Chinese Government has worked out some concrete measures including the creation of a quality license system and an enforced quality checkup to guarantee food safety.

According to Wu Jianping, an official from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), China's food market access system covers 28 categories and 525 types of food, and 90,000 companies have obtained the production license. Products from these authorized companies make up more than 90 percent of the market.

To collect information of food safety the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in 1999 set up a complaint hotline. In 2006 alone the hotline received 4.68 million calls and saved customers 780 million yuan.

"We check every complaint we receive," said Han Miao, Deputy Director of the 12315 Consumer Complaint and Inquiry Center under the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce.

"There are too many government departments involved in the food safety monitoring and management, and besides, the punishment for food safety violation is too light. We need a food safety law to coordinate management and toughen punishments," said Li Jiping, Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Food and Drug Administration.