Author: Hujin Wu Guo Jiewen

　　As the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, some consumers have discovered that the production date marked on the package of the mooncakes they bought on September 6, 2020 is September 10, 2020.

How did such "premature" moon cakes come on the market?

Interviews with Banyuetan reporters discovered that irregularities such as "selling dog meat" on food labeling and markings have occurred from time to time, which has become a mess for the people.

　　1

　　Pit you did not discuss: food labeling "see flowers in the fog"

　　Although the local market supervision departments conduct daily supervision and special inspections in the field of food labeling and marking every year, violations of food labeling and marking still occur from time to time, and all kinds of chaos make consumers "see the flowers in the fog."

　　——The production date is "according to it", and the nutritional ingredients are "copyed".

The investigation report of the aforementioned "premature" moon cake production company stated that the batch of moon cakes was caused by a new employee who incorrectly entered the production date of September 10 when operating a newly purchased packaging machine. The "0" was not eliminated when the date was manually changed. The production date of this batch of moon cakes was marked incorrectly.

　　A grass-roots market supervision and law enforcement officer in Jiangxi said that during law enforcement inspections, "premature birth" food phenomenon occurs from time to time, and it does not rule out the possibility of "misoperation" in enterprises, but some illegal enterprises extend the shelf life of food out of disguise. Purpose, to mark false food production dates.

　　“The production date can be marked as long as you want it to be marked. The nutrient composition table is calculated based on experience, or similar products are copied from the gourd.” The market supervision and law enforcement officer said that it often takes a certain amount of time for food to go from the production line to the inspection and delivery to the market. In order to keep the products fresh, some unscrupulous merchants postpone the marking of the production date, and once the circulation links are not well controlled, the products will be put on the market in advance, which will cause the food to be "premature".

　　-Food and medicine are "silly and confused", falsely propagating "who believes will pay the bill".

The Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Zhangshu City, Jiangxi Province found during the inspection that a food package produced by a certain company reads "It has the function of clearing heat and detoxifying and dissipating wind and heat", which actually violates "Non-health food shall not be explicitly stated or Imply that it has a health care effect.

Law enforcement officials said that the health food sector is the hardest hit area where food labeling and marking are illegal. Some illegal businesses believe that health food can't be cured and can't be eaten, and they often exaggerate publicity.

　　——Seduce and mislead, deliberately confuse, cheat you without discussing it.

For example, some foods on the e-commerce platform marked with the words "diabetic food" and "diabetic elderly people" are actually added with sucrose.

A market supervision and law enforcement officer in Nanchang said that some e-commerce companies’ publicity titles use direct or suggestive language, graphics, and symbols to mislead consumers to confuse the food they bought with another product.

　　2

　　Small punishment and huge profits: illegal companies are keen on "cat and mouse games"?

　　Interview with Banyuetan reporter learned that the three major reasons behind the chaos of food labels cannot be ignored.

　　First, the production process of some enterprises is chaotic, and the factory inspection record system is "idling".

The employees of some small and micro food companies have low professional quality and know little about the technical specifications and industry standards for food labeling.

　　The second is the "short legs" of multi-faceted and broad supervision, and law enforcement is stretched.

The Banyuetan reporter learned from a county-level market supervision administration in Jiangxi that the average age of the food supervisors in this bureau is 53 years old, and the actual supervisory ability is relatively lacking.

And the more the grassroots level, the weaker the supervision.

In some places, the phenomenon of "big heads, thick waists and short legs" has even appeared, forming a blind spot for supervision of small food production workshops in urban and rural areas or rural areas.

　　The third is the low cost of illegal enterprises, which breeds the mentality of "small punishment and huge profits".

The Food Safety Law stipulates that if the value of the food whose production and operation labels and instructions does not meet the regulations is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of 5,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan shall be imposed; if the value of the food is more than 10,000 yuan, the value of the goods shall be five times the value More than ten times the fine.

Food labeling violation cases usually involve a small amount of money. The illegal enterprise “is fined a small fine if caught, and makes a lot of money if it is not caught.” It is easy to get lucky.

　　3

　　Supervision is to be upgraded: both punishment and prevention are implemented to ensure "tip safety"

　　Food is the most important thing for the people, and food safety is a basic livelihood issue. To curb illegal and chaotic food labeling, it is necessary to innovate supervision methods, increase supervision and punishment, and ensure consumers' "safety on the tip of the tongue".

　　In order to make up for the lack of supervision and law enforcement power, Nanchang is implementing the "machine substitution" supervision model, which connects the video surveillance of the production workshop of the enterprise to the intelligent supervision platform.

"Through the'machine substitution' supervision model, the production line, factory inspection and other links of food production enterprises can realize the whole process of visual monitoring, which will help strengthen the supervision of the production process of the enterprise." Liu Linyong, director of the Food Production Supervision Division of Nanchang Market Supervision Administration Say.

　　Qin Shouqin, an associate professor at the Law School of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, believes that market supervision, public security, urban management and other departments should strengthen cooperation, zero tolerance for violations of laws and regulations, make quick moves, and increase the cost of illegal enterprises.

At the same time, strengthen the grassroots supervision team and set up a professional food inspector team.

(Source: "Ban Yue Tan" Issue 18, 2020)