A netizen revealed that suspected rat heads were eaten in meals in the school canteen of North China University of Science and Technology, which attracted widespread attention and renewed public concern over food safety, especially on school campuses. Photo: the Paper

 
In response to rat heads found in students' meals in institutes in Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi Province, and Tangshan, North China's Hebei Province, the State Council's Food Safety Office on Monday held talks with the main leaders of the two cities' local governments, demanding they comprehensively rectify their food safety problems, China Central Television reported on Monday. 

Both food safety incidents sparked widespread discussion and criticism among the Chinese public. On June 1, in Nanchang, a student found a rat head in a meal at Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College, which was falsely identified as "duck neck" by the school and the local Nanchang market supervision bureau. Only then did a joint provincial investigation team uncover the truth and revoke the food operation license of the canteen involved, while other people and units involved were also penalized.

Following the incident, the human resources and social security authority in Jiangxi launched a campaign targeting food safety concerns at vocational and technical colleges following the exposure of several food safety incidents in the province.

On October 10, a student reported eating a foreign object resembling a rat's head in a cafeteria meal at the North China University of Science and Technology in Tangshan. The next day, the university announced that it had terminated its contract with the company in charge of catering because of food safety concerns.

The food safety incident at Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College exposed the weak local management of food safety in Nanchang, the lack of responsibility of authorities concerning industry management, and the improper emergency response, which resulted in a negative social impact. The lesson is extremely profound, the State Council Food Safety Office said. 

The Office asked the Nanchang government to seriously monitor food safety  in the city, carry out an analysis of the food safety incident, implement comprehensive rectification, and firmly ensure the standards of campus food safety. The Office will conduct on-site inspections and supervise the entire process of Nanchang's rectification and implementation.

In a meeting with the government of Tangshan, the State Council Food Safety Office pointed out that the campus food safety incident at the North China University of Science and Technology exposed issues such as weak awareness of food safety, serious lack of responsibility by the university, an absence of industry management by competent authorities, inadequate fulfillment of food safety management at the local level, and ineffective implementation of supervision and management. These problems have caused adverse social impact.

During the meeting, the Office demanded that Tangshan strictly carry out its responsibilities for food safety, deeply learn from this lesson, carry out rectification effectively, and prevent and resolve various risks and hidden dangers. It is crucial to firmly safeguard the basic standards of campus food safety, said the Office.

The Office will also conduct on-site inspections and oversee the entire process to ensure the implementation of rectification measures in Tangshan.

Special campaigns have been launched across schools nationwide to strictly prevent and control food safety risks.

Analysts noted that the meetings reflect the determination of the office to strengthen food safety in schools. It is necessary to unite all forces and involve all of society to ensure food safety for the people in an all-round, all-process, and all-coverage manner, and jointly build a defense line for food safety for students, said observers.