November 11, 2024
CHONGQING – Eateries in south-western Chongqing will soon have to let their customers know how their dishes are prepared, including the ingredients used, right down to the exact parts of the livestock.
They will also have to disclose whether their dishes contain pre-cooked items, and describe flavour profiles and portion sizes. Pre-cooked items include ready-to-eat meals that need only quick reheating before consumption.
The new industry standards, the first of their kind in China, are aimed at improving food safety standards and protecting consumers’ rights, according to an official statement on the Chongqing municipality government website on Oct 19.
The city’s authorities are working to ensure that the industry will keep to the fresh guidelines by contacting restaurants and eateries to help them compile the information. New information will be included in physical menus and online delivery platforms in time, the statement added. No date has yet been given for the implementation of the new guidelines.
The Chongqing authorities said the guidelines will stop cooks from using prohibited ingredients, such as lymphatic meat in place of pork belly.
Lymphatic meat, which contains fatty tumours, thyroid glands and lymph nodes, is considered in China to be a cheap, low-quality meat. Restaurants in the country have reportedly replaced pork belly, which is more expensive, with lymphatic meat.
Diners are “increasingly focused on the ‘wok taste’ of dishes and are particularly concerned about whether the food is cooked on-site”, the authorities said in the statement.
“Clearly indicating key information such as food preparation methods and whether pre-prepared dishes are used helps ensure consumer rights,” they added.
Chongqing’s move is part of a nationwide effort to double down on food safety standards as the central government promotes the food and beverage (F&B) sector amid overall soft domestic demand.
F&B has been a bright spot in China’s slowing economy, with the sector’s revenue growing 6.2 per cent to 3.94 trillion yuan (S$728 billion) in the first nine months of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023.
Across China, local officials are clamping down on food safety violations through measures such as increased enforcement and even by roping in delivery riders as whistle-blowers.
In Beijing’s Dongcheng district, a two-week sting operation that ended on Oct 30 uncovered 13 cases of restaurateurs selling spoilt food, poorly disinfected utensils and cross-contamination between raw and cooked food.
In the Guangxi autonomous region in south-western China, checks are being conducted on “all food production and business entities in the region” in an inspection campaign until the end of 2024, said the authorities there.
Chongqing’s move is part of China’s nationwide effort to double down on food safety standards. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
Provinces such as Liaoning, Zhejiang and Shandong have been recruiting delivery riders as whistle-blowers since as early as September to ensure that eateries maintain hygiene standards. Those who flag offences will – after verification – receive points that they can exchange for items or favourable ratings on their service platforms.
Regulators in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, have pledged to investigate reported offences within seven days, and to complete checks within 30 days.
The idea of getting the help of delivery riders follows an incident in January that was widely shared online, when a delivery rider uploaded a video of a kitchen that serves only takeaway orders.
The 12-second video shows workers using their bare hands to mix cooked food with raw ingredients. The kitchen floor and cookware are also covered in grime.
China’s food safety track record has been patchy, with widely reported cases such as those of melamine-tainted milk powder in 2008, and the use of “gutter oil”, or oil taken from drains and other unsanitary quarters, in the 2010s.
In July 2024, media reports on how cooking oil was transported in tanker trucks that carried non-edible fuels or chemicals – without being cleaned between shipments – sparked food safety concerns.
A check of five eateries by The Straits Times in Chongqing found none had listed how its dishes were prepared or whether these contained pre-prepared items. But two did list the ingredients used in their dishes, even before the new guidelines are rolled out.
Mr Xie Chuan, 26, a waiter at a restaurant serving Yunnan cuisine, said he “has not received any instructions from headquarters to update menus with the additional information”.
A manager at a dessert shop who gave his name only as Mr Wang said the changes are “not realistic, given that many dishes use pre-prepared items”.
He wonders about bing fen, a local speciality made with a type of jelly mixed with raisins, sugar syrup and hawthorn berry flakes that is sold at his shop.
“Is it a freshly made item because we mix the ingredients together on the spot? Or is it a pre-prepared dish because the items used are not strictly ‘fresh’?” said Mr Wang, 30, who declined to give his full name as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
When asked, consumers in Chongqing welcomed the new menu guidelines and said they hope the authorities can do more to ensure that eateries keep to the stipulated requirements.
Said Ms Mandy Tan, 28, a primary school teacher: “Whenever I eat out in the future, I definitely would prioritise those restaurants with dishes that I’m craving for that do not use as many pre-prepared items.
“The danger about pre-prepared food is that I’m not sure how long ago the food was made, and surely there will be a lot of preservatives.”
Property agent James Zhong, 35, who uses food delivery services at least three times a week, said: “Knowing that the authorities are stepping up surveillance definitely puts my mind at ease.”
He pointed out that some shops on delivery platforms Meituan and Ele.me upload photos of their physical shops online to assure customers that they are not operating from the roadside, but he is still concerned about hygiene standards.
“China doesn’t have the best record when it comes to food safety,” he said.