Zhong Qiding: To promote fairness in consumption, we must prevent "bad money driving out good money"

　　Zhongxin Finance, March 15 (Zuo Yuqing) With the improvement of consumers' income levels and the continuous emergence of new formats and models in the consumer market, consumers' awareness of "quality consumption" has gradually strengthened, and the demand for fair treatment has become more and more popular. strong.

Hot consumer events such as food safety often spark discussions on social media.

　　So, facing the new situation and new challenges in the consumption field, how can we better protect the rights and interests of consumers?

In this regard, Zhong Qiding, director of the National Food Quality Inspection and Testing Center, accepted an interview with Zhongxin Finance and explained how to promote consumption fairness in the field of food safety.

Zhong Qiding, director of the National Food Quality Inspection and Testing Center.

Be wary of "bad money drives out good money"

　　Zhong Qiding believes that for the food industry, the cornerstone of promoting fairness in consumption is food safety, authenticity and pollution-free. Consumers can buy with confidence and eat with peace of mind.

However, in the field of food, it is not uncommon to use shoddy and falsely marketed products, and food authenticity problems emerge one after another.

　　"For example, some products advertise themselves as 'traditional brewing without additives' through marketing, but actually use additives, which reduces costs. However, consumers cannot identify them. Over time, products with really good quality will be eliminated from the market, which will eventually lead to consumption. Confidence and industry reputation have declined." Zhong Qiding pointed out that for consumers, the food they buy may be shoddy; but for regulators, if these foods do not pose any harm to the human body, they do not constitute food safety. question.

　　"With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, people's concepts and eating habits are constantly changing. From the past to eat well and to eat well, to the current requirements of fine, safe and healthy eating. Therefore, in food In the field, we should not only focus on food safety, but also on the authenticity of food.”

The monitoring role of third parties needs to be strengthened

　　In recent years, many well-known chain brands have exposed food safety issues. Whether it is a direct sales model or a franchise model, chain brands seem to be unable to escape the "curse" of food safety issues.

So, how can big brands break the spell and regain consumer trust?

　　Zhong Qiding said that enterprises are the main body to ensure quality, and should independently practice the whole chain and all-round prevention and control; industry associations and quality inspection departments also need to play their due roles.

"Strengthening supervision and increasing transparency is the key. The news media should be encouraged to communicate directly with the law enforcement and testing departments of the quality inspection system, provide positive guidance, and support the healthy and orderly development of the national brand industry."

　　At the same time, Zhong Qiding proposed that in addition to enterprise self-control and departmental supervision, third-party supervision and management should also be strengthened.

"When enterprises are always slack in self-control, it is difficult to strictly guard against the density of sampling inspections by the regulatory authorities. For consumers under the influence of marketing, it is difficult to detect the inherent problems of food. Therefore, through professional third-party inspection agencies to strengthen Oversight is necessary."

　　For example, in 2020, the International Joint Research Center for Food Authenticity Technology of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China innovatively launched the Food Authenticity Certification (FA Certification) service. At present, related products of many leading enterprises in the subdivided food field have obtained the certification.

　　"FA certification designates the National Food Quality Inspection and Testing Center to conduct active random inspection and evaluation of FA certified products in the market, combined with information traceability technology, to provide consumers with a real-time dynamic grasp of the real quality information of FA certified products in the circulation market, and build product and consumption. It is a bridge of trust for people." Zhong Qiding said.

New consumption such as prepared dishes urgently needs supervision

　　According to Zhong Qiding, with the improvement of the food quality and safety traceability system, 100% traceability has been achieved in many industries, and technological innovation has become a new driving force for the transformation and upgrading of the food industry.

However, in the face of emerging consumer formats such as online food ordering, fresh food distribution, and imported cold chain, there are still many gaps in my country's regulatory level that need to be filled.

　　Taking prefabricated dishes as an example, in the context of the development of the home economy, the prefabricated food industry has become a new outlet in the food field, and various capitals have come to compete for the track.

However, Zhong Qiding pointed out that many pre-made dishes are mainly made by OEM, and few brands are directly produced, so it is inevitable that the quality will "overturn" during the mass production process.

　　"What's more, we don't have an actual standard way to supervise pre-made dishes, so food safety is a big problem. Faced with these problems, we should step up the formulation of standards for pre-made dishes, strengthen supervision and sampling inspections, and open sampling inspections in a timely manner. As a result, ensure the transparency of the results." Zhong Qiding said.

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