Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Editor's Note:

Media reports say more than 100,000 tons of "zombie meat," long expired frozen meat products with some dated back to the 1970s, were seized by General Administration of Customs officials. The reports were soon accused of being fabrications based on vague sources, triggering heated public discussion. Why does the public care so much about the issue? Is "zombie meat" a threat to food safety?

Food safety worries haunt Chinese public

The public discussion over the truth of the reports has reflected people's sensitivity and concerns toward food safety. The cold reality is that citizens are still worried about the quality of food.

Are frozen meat products, including beef and chicken feet, safe? There have been a lot of media reports on cases of long-expired frozen meat. The Changsha Industry and Commerce Bureau in Central China's Hunan Province reportedly seized 25.3 tons of frozen meat products including pig tripe and chicken feet over a year past the expiry date in October, 2014.

Wei Bo, the director of Food and Drug Administration in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said in an interview in February that "[the smuggled food is] mainly frozen meat products including beef and chicken feet. Beef has been stored for years and some has even been stored for more than 10 years."

Following melamine contamination of dairy products, lean meat powder fed to animals and tainted steamed buns, the public has become increasingly sensitive about food safety issues. People feel angry but at the same time helpless when dealing with dangerous and uncertified products. Public concerns have steeply increased following the outbreak of such incidents.

And we need to consider whether the authorities are doing their job. Regulatory authorities have failed on a regular basis, especially when money and power is involved.

China is becoming increasingly integrated into the global economy and its food safety management system, which is now far from perfect, faces pressure and challenges from both home and abroad. The development of the domestic market is still under way and an effective system to track the origin of the food has not been established. If overseas food, including smuggled frozen meat, is flooding into the Chinese market, how can citizens feel reassured?

The authorities, facing the public concerns over food safety, ought to fill in the loopholes. The current law on food safety should be improved. Cooperative mechanism to inspect the safety of cross-border food should also be put in place.

A safe and healthy food market can only be realized by strict supervision and continuous efforts. Any problem, even if it has only a 1 percent chance of happening, will become the 100 percent disaster to the public health and safety.

The Beijing News

Media coverage needs to be fair and full

The dispute over the "zombie meat" has evolved into the debate over the truthfulness of media reports.

The reversing of the incident, which has taken place for more than once, seems to be a farce.

Despite the discussions over the reports, the essence of the dispute is clear: the so-called "zombie meat," which poses a threat to food safety, does exist. This can be concluded from a notice jointly released by the State Food and Drug Administration, General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Public Security recently.

The notice, obviously, is a message to soothe citizens. It has delivered two main meanings.

Firstly, all the smuggled frozen meat products which were seized this year have all been destroyed. Some of the products had been expired for almost four to five years by the time they were seized.

Secondly, media coverage over the food safety should be accurate and fair.

The key words "this year," "four to five years," and "destroyed" in the notice demonstrate that some "zombie meat" does exist.

However, the notice is not a verdict in the dispute. The media are left again to try to verify the truth. In this case, the interviewees in the media coverage and the relevant authorities should stand up and clear things out.

The relevant authorities interviewed by the two sides did not give a clear response in the first time to this dispute which has lasted for days. There have been absolutely opposite opinions in the media coverage from both sides.

Interviewees and the relevant authorities should make clear and clarify to the public whether or not the "zombie meat" in the previous media reports was really from the 1980s or even 1970s, and whether the media has exaggerated the life span of the meat. This is the only way to settle the disputes and soothe the public.

The expired meat, whether it has been expired for "only" four or five years or decades, is not safe for human beings.

In fact, in terms of law enforcement, the information should be made public and transparent. This should become the norm.

As soon as the relevant authorities have found and seized poisonous or bad food, the public should be well informed as soon as possible so that the public worries about food safety can be eased.

ifeng.com

Truth can drive reports that spur change

The media reports over the "zombie meat" have been accused of being fabricated and the reversal of the issue has stunned the public. The factors underlying the issue are worth exploring.

Is the "zombie meat" true or not? Before discussing this problem, two typical cases are worth mentioning. Several days ago, a young couple in Xi'an took their goats to the market and sold fresh milk to customers. Attracted by the "freshness," customers are flocking to the stall.

Another example is the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics on July 9. Food price has increased by 1.9 percent in June, with the price of pork increased by 7.0 percent, based on the statistics. This trend is expected to continue.

Even if the trend is due mainly to the low survival ratio of the pigs, the surging price coincides with the outbreak of the "zombie meat." It is hard to rule out the connection between people's cautiousness to the frozen meat products and the popularity of the fresh meat.

It is also verified by the media that the outbreak of the "zombie meat" has struck a serious blow to the frozen food market. Other certified frozen meat which has no connection to the "zombie meat" has been hit severely.

Customs, police, and experts have all admitted to the existence of smuggling and expired meat. However, they regard the media reports of the frozen meat dated back to the 1970s and 1980s as exaggerated. The truth is still waiting to be found.

The questioning from other sides has put the media into an awkward situation. No matter how the issue will evolve eventually, it should be learned that if the facts of the story cannot be strongly supported, the power of the story will be greatly reduced, no matter how sincere the report is.

"Truthfulness" is the soul of the story. A story that lacks supportive and detailed facts can be seen as "zombie news."

Food security is becoming a public topic that attracts everyone's attention. Both the authorities and journalists should pay attention to details and be fair and rigorous toward food safety in order to avoid such embarrassments in future.

rednet.cn