Food found to be substandard

A wide range of food products for sale in Guangzhou do not meet local quality standards, the Guangdong food safety committee said in a report yesterday.

The report comes after several months of inspections¹ conducted by the committee in collaboration³ with other local authorities. Meat, vegetables, seafood⁴, cooking oil, liquor, wine and snacks were all inspected.

Among the worst offenders⁵ are Western liquors and various peanut oil brands, it said.

"We inspected 62 batches⁶ of liquor, including some Western brands, grape wine and rice wine," Luo Kui, vice-director of the Guangdong economy and trading committee's market improvement division, told China Daily.

"Forty percent of the Western liquors, including whisky, vodka and rum, were found to be below standard."

The liquors either contained excessive amounts of additives⁷ or did not have the correct labeling, he said.

"Customers should buy liquor only from larger stores, and carefully read the labels on the bottles," he said.

The inspectors⁸ also found that 60 percent of peanut oils, the most popular cooking oil in Guangdong, were impure⁹, Liang Xuegao, vice-director of the provincial¹⁰ industrial and commercial department, said.

The department inspected 55 batches of peanut oil and found 31 of them contained vegetable oil, he said.

"These are blended oils being sold at peanut oil prices," said Liang, adding some peanut oil makers¹¹ were also found to have used "bad quality" nuts.

If people consume large quantities of oil made from bad peanuts they run a higher risk of contracting liver cancer, he said.

"High-quality peanut oil is lighter¹² in color, clearer and has less sediment," Liang said.

Last year, officials from the food safety committee conducted a survey in cooperation with the Guangdong Food and Drug Vocational School to find out what people thought about food quality in the province.

They found that 40 percent of the 2,600 people they spoke¹³ to (including urban and rural residents) were not satisfied with the quality of rice, flour, vegetables, meat and other staples¹⁴.

"The committee clearly still has a lot of work to do to improve food quality," Wu Yousheng, director of the committee's coordination¹⁵ division, said yesterday.

Meanwhile, officials from the Guangdong entry-exit inspection² and quarantine bureau said they are doing all they can to ensure the food exported to Hong Kong and Macao for the Lunar New Year is of good quality.

Questions:

1. Name four food products that were inspected by the Guangdong food safety committee.

2. What are among the worst offenders of substandard food products?

3. What is the risk if people consume large quantities of oil made from bad peanuts?

Answers:

1. Any of the following: Meat, vegetables, seafood, cooking oil, liquor, wine and snacks.

2. Western liquors and various peanut oil brands.

3. Contracting liver cancer.