AWARENESS RAISING: Local residents visit a food safety show in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on June 14 (JU HUANZONG)

Du Dianwei, the founder of Beijing-based Qinghuaci Hotpot Restaurant has been busy rallying 20-plus restaurants to form a coalition.

A 10-year veteran of the food and beverage industry, Du is upset by food safety scandals frequently exposed by the media and considers tainted and contaminated food an affront to the hospitality industry. He wants the new coalition to focus on quality assurance.

Some consumers in China refrain from eating meat out of worries about excessive amounts of hormones and antibiotics consumed by livestock. Yet even vegetarians are not spared from the worries of foold scares.

The public is also concerned with the cooking processes of some restaurants, especially the use of "gutter oil" recovered from waste sites and clandestinely resold.

Food is prepared in such unhealthy ways that "some chefs and restaurant owners do not want to eat food cooked in their own restaurants," Du said.

While initiating a quality-assurance coalition, Du called upon the food and beverage industry to exercise self-discipline, and be socially responsible by serving worry-free meals to consumers.

Du said that the mutton served in his restaurant comes from Hulun Buir Grassland in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and in particular, the veal is supplied by Shine's Group, China's first veal producer.

Shine's Group, in partnership with the VanDrie Group, the world's biggest producer of veal and calf milk substitute, produces veal in China that meets the highest EU standards. It seeks to produce high-quality and safe veal that is nutritious, low in fat and easy to digest.

To ensure food safety, Shine's Group introduced the quality management system of the VanDrie Group. The core of this management system is traceability, as every calf is assigned an identification number.

On June 17, at the start of the National Food Safety Awareness Week, Vice Premier Wang Yang called on the government, enterprises and public to combine efforts in promoting food safety.

He urged concerned government departments to oversee food safety from "field to table" with innovative supervision methods, and for food companies to be socially responsible and improve quality. Wang also asked the public to keep a watchful eye on violators.

Regulatory efforts

After he assumed office in March, Premier Li Keqiang stressed that China should establish a stringent food and drug safety supervision system beginning with the baby formula industry following the 2008 melamine scandal.

On May 31, Premier Li chaired a State Council executive meeting, which unveiled measures to improve the quality of infant formula and boost consumer confidence.

In particular, the meeting decided that infant formula will be strictly regulated according to the methods tailor-made for drugs, and electronic codes will be used so that the entire production process is traceable. The government will also more strictly monitor online sales of infant formula and the quality of imported products.

Previously, infant formula was regulated as food in China. If regulated as a drug, it will be sold at special grocery market counters and at pharmacies on a trial basis, said Teng Jiacai, Deputy Director of the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).

The CFDA oversees food and drug safety in the production and circulation processes. It was promoted to a ministerial-level organization from a sub-ministerial organization during the government reshuffle in March.

Since drug stores are more strictly managed and have better hygiene and temperature controls, they can provide a better storage environment for milk powder, Teng said.