Sept. 11 - Teachers in southwest China will now start trying dishes first, before their students, to make sure meals at school are safe to eat.

Beginning this semester, the new dining policy has already been adopted by more than 90% of schools in Chengdu city, capital of Sichuan Province, reports the Western Economic Daily.

According to the new policy, teachers will try dishes 30 minutes before their students every day. In addition, data will be recorded and samples will be kept in the schools’ refrigerators for 48 hours. This is to ensure local authorities are able to handle the situation in case any other contaminations are found.

Chinese experts warned Sunday that foodborne diseases rather than chemical pollutants¹ are the top menace to the food safety of Chinese consumers, Xinhua reports.

Official data showed that about an annual average of 300 million people in China would contract foodborne diseases.

Foodborne diseases often happened to group dining, especially at cantees for students or employees, restaurants and fast food outlets². Triggers are material contamination, food deterioration³, improper⁴ storage and bad processing.