Temporary food has quietly become popular as a new outlet, and there is still a lack of specific rules and regulations in management
Keeping the bottom line of food safety at the end of the period
● In recent years, the concept of mass consumption has changed. Temporary food is increasingly sought after by young people. There are also tens of thousands of shops selling temporary food online and offline, and temporary food has shown great market potential.
● At present, the temporary food market is still in a gray area. my country still lacks specific rules and regulations for the management of temporary food, which has caused many problems in the temporary food market.
● Although the price of impending food is discounted, it cannot be discounted for safety. This requires the joint efforts of consumers, businesses, and regulatory authorities.
□ The reporter's trainee reporter Zhang Shoukun
□ Our reporter Wang Yang
The original price of 22.8 yuan lomei is now 6.6 yuan, the 15 yuan bento is only 2.8 yuan after the discount, and a bottle of 13.9 yuan milk can now be bought for less than 4 yuan... At a chain convenience store in Beijing, Zhang Chen ( (Pseudonym) can "capture" these latest discounts almost every day.
These foods are neither "three-nos" products, nor have any defects. On the contrary, many of them are produced by big-brand manufacturers. They are only one thing different from foods sold at normal prices on containers-the shelf life is approaching the shelf life.
In order to deal with impending food, many supermarkets have been using similar discounts or buy one get one free "bundled sales" for many years, but the scope is not wide, and most people have the impression that there are only "cheap-loving elderly". People" will buy.
In recent years, the concept of mass consumption has changed. Temporary food is increasingly sought after by young people. There are also tens of thousands of shops selling temporary food online and offline. Temporary food shows huge market potential.
While the sales of temporary foods are booming, many consumers have also raised their doubts, among which the most concerned is the safety of temporary foods.
In this regard, relevant experts believe that although the price of temporary food is discounted, the safety cannot be discounted. This requires the joint efforts of consumers, businesses and regulatory authorities.
Popular online and offline
The impending food market is booming
At 7:30 p.m. on June 2nd, in a vegetable market on Daqiao Road in Tianjin, many shopkeepers were ready to close their stalls and go home, but there were still people coming and going in a food discount store, and many customers were choosing goods in the store.
The owner, Mr. Wang, told the reporter of "Rules of Law Daily" that most of what they sell is impending imported biscuits, beverages, puffed food, etc. The prices are generally only one-third of the regular-priced products, or even lower.
A customer who is shopping said: "The original price of imported goods is generally more expensive. After the discount, it is cheap and cost-effective, and it is very attractive."
Buying temporary food has become a habit of many people.
When the time came to 8:15 in the evening, several customers had already gathered in the fruit section and deli section of a large supermarket on Binjiang Road in Tianjin.
Every day from 8 to 8:30, the fruits and vegetables, sushi, roast duck and other foods in the store will begin to be sold at a discount.
At the beginning, it is generally 40% off or buy one get one free, and the price may drop to 30% around nine o'clock.
Supermarket staff told a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that very few things can "stand up" by that time, and they usually sell almost as soon as the price drops.
In the past, most of the people who came to the supermarket to buy these impending foods were elderly people, but now more and more young people come to patronize them.
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During the interview, a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" learned that not only are more and more large supermarkets launching temporary food shelves, more and more stores specializing in temporary food have also begun to appear on the streets in the form of warehouse stores and discount stores. , The shelf life of most impending foods is about half or one-third of the original shelf life, and the closer the shelf life is, the greater the discount on the products.
In addition to offline physical stores, there are also impending foods online.
Many e-commerce platforms have temporary food sales. After entering keywords, you can find many special foods or online stores specializing in temporary foods; a variety of online shopping apps for temporary foods came into being, and payment orders are not rare ; The "I Love Temporary Food" group on the Douban website was established in September last year and now has nearly 70,000 members.
What is the scale of the temporary food market?
In January this year, iiMedia Consulting released the "2020 China's Tentative Food Industry Market Analysis and Consumer Research Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), showing that from the supply side, the total output value of China's snack food industry in 2020 will exceed 3 Trillion yuan, even with 1% of inventory precipitation, the market size of the temporary food industry will exceed 30 billion yuan. The potential of the temporary food market is huge; the current proportion of Chinese temporary food consumers aged 26 to 35 47.8%, young people became the main buying force.
Tianyancha shows that an e-commerce platform that sells branded foods as they are sold as recently as possible is cheaper. As early as 2018, an e-commerce platform received hundreds of millions of yuan in financing.
In addition, in recent years, many companies specializing in temporary food have received tens of millions of yuan in financing.
There are indications that the temporary food has been on the market.
Why does the temporary food become hot?
The "Report" shows that overcapacity in the food market is the main reason for the emergence of impending food.
With the emergence of more and more impending foods, the market value of impending foods has gradually been discovered.
From the initial discount sales of temporary food through small-scale stores, to the emergence of offline direct-sale stores, and then to the release of temporary food for sale on e-commerce platforms, the industry’s attention is constantly increasing, and the temporary food The development of the food market will also move towards standardization and scale.
Ren Chao, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, believes that a variety of reasons are intertwined to create a boom in the temporary food market.
For consumers, the price of temporary food is lower, which can also expand the types and scope of their food choices, and people’s consumption concepts have also changed in recent years; for merchants, selling temporary food solves the processing of temporary food The problem is conducive to solving the problem of reducing the sunk costs incurred due to poor sales of goods and maximizing the value of goods.
In the view of Du Leqi, director of the Economic Law Research Society of Jiangsu Law Society and associate professor of Jiangsu University Law School, the purchase and sale of temporary food is also consistent with the legislative purpose of the Anti-Food Waste Law.
There are tricks in the sales process
National standards have not yet been issued
On May 28, Grandma Wang, who had just bought two boxes of chicken breasts from a supermarket on Taixing South Road, Tianjin, seemed a little happy, because there were three days before the expiration date, so the price was less than half of the original price, but she returned home and opened the package. Grandma Queen's face immediately changed-a stinky smell came, and it was obvious that the chicken breast had deteriorated.
After reading the packaging carefully, Grandma Wang found that there was a price tag affixed to the price tag, which should be the actual production date.
In fact, these two boxes of chicken breasts have passed their shelf life for almost one week.
Ren Chao said that from the actual situation, there are also some hidden food safety hazards in the temporary food.
"Due to profit-driven, some unscrupulous businesses may modify the production date of the food, change the expired food, pretend to be the imminent food. Once such food enters the market, it will pose a threat to the health and safety of the public. In addition, storage and circulation Changes in the conditions often affect the actual shelf life, which is inevitable."
Grandma Wang told a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that she had encountered a similar incident once, except that it was duck legs last time, and the merchant did not tamper with the shelf life, but the duck legs radiated after a few days before the expiration date. Smelly.
Is impending food safe?
Why some foods that are still in the shelf life have deteriorated?
There is currently no clear national standard for the definition of impending foods. Only relevant local management regulations issued by provinces and cities. The original Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the standard of "Food shelf life critical" in 2012: mark If the shelf life is 30 days to less than 90 days, the critical period is 10 days before expiration, such as sterilized packaged meat, fresh eggs, etc.; if the shelf life is 16 days less than 30 days, the critical period is 5 days before expiration, such as yogurt ; If the shelf life is less than 15 days, the critical period is 1 to 4 days before the expiration date, such as milk, unsterilized cooked food, etc.
According to the "General Principles for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods in National Food Safety Standards", the shelf life of food refers to the period of time for prepackaged foods to maintain quality under the storage conditions specified on the label.
During this period, the product is suitable for sale and maintains the unique quality that does not need to be described or has been described in the label.
Therefore, the flavor, taste, and safety of impending foods within the shelf life are guaranteed when the packaging is intact and stored properly. Generally speaking, they can be eaten with confidence.
Otherwise, even within the shelf life, the food may deteriorate.
As early as 2007, the "Guiding Opinions of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Regulating the System of Claiming Certificates for Food and the System of Purchase Ledgers" required that township, subdistrict and community grocery stores should provide food at the purchase counter for food that is about to reach the expiration date. Make eye-catching notes in the account, and display the food in a concentrated manner or make eye-catching reminders to consumers; the anti-food waste law promulgated and implemented on April 29 this year also clearly stipulates that food operators such as supermarkets and shopping malls should pay attention to the food they operate. Strengthen daily inspections, and carry out special labeling or centralized display and sale of foods close to the expiry date.
A reporter from the Rule of Law Daily found that, compared with the openness and transparency of online platforms, many supermarkets in offline physical stores did not set up special sales areas for temporary products, but sold them together with regular-priced products. Many consumers thought This is a short-term sales promotion method for merchants. Buy without seeing the expiration date, but when you are ready to eat it a few days later, you find that it has expired; in many shops selling impending food, the merchant will not focus on the specific expiration date of the impending food.
Ren Chao said that in accordance with relevant regulations, shopping malls should make eye-catching reminders to consumers when handling temporary food promotions.
Generally, for products with a shelf life of more than half a year, publicity is required within 15 days before expiration; for products with a shelf life of more than two years, the last 30 days is the "critical period"; and for products with a shelf life of only one month, the last three days need to indicate that "this product is coming soon" Period, special offer processing" and other words.
If the merchant does not fulfill the obligation of prompting, it may violate the consumer's right to know.
The "Report" also shows that the current consumer recognition of China's tentative food industry is still insufficient.
Due to the particularity of impending food, it is a "surplus" in the food circulation link, and more than 60% of consumers still have a negative impression of the impending food as expired food and low-quality products, and more than 50% Of consumers buy less frequently than once a month.
"At present, the food market for the impending period is still in a gray area. my country still lacks specific and detailed rules and regulations for the management of impending food. Therefore, the handling of impending food mostly depends on the autonomous behavior of related enterprises and individuals. The emergence of many problems in the food market." Ren Chao said.
Urgent need to improve the regulatory system
Eliminate food safety hazards
In people's traditional cognition, the term "immediate" in business is often a negative concept closely linked to inventory and depletion, and impending food is no exception.
How to deal with impending food has always been a headache for enterprises.
The quiet popularity of the ad hoc food market has effectively resolved the processing problems, allowing businesses and consumers to achieve a win-win situation.
However, due to the blind pursuit of profits by some businesses, the sale of temporary products has broken through the bottom line of safety, and there have been many violations. The image of temporary foods has also been affixed with negative labels such as "expired" and "deteriorated".
This requires merchants and relevant departments to attach great importance to strengthen market supervision and keep the bottom line of food safety in the immediate future.
Du Leqi said that in response to the tampering of the production date or shelf life of the food during the sale of temporary food, the mixed sale of temporary food and non-period food, and the sale of expired food as temporary food violates laws, regulations or business. Ethical and habitual behaviors should unify the "food shelf life critical" identification standards and sales specifications from the legislative aspect, so as to provide operators with unified guidelines and compliance guidelines for the sale of temporary foods.
At the same time, regulate the circulation of temporary food, establish an access mechanism for sales agencies, clarify market access entities and procedural conditions, strictly purchase channels, conceal information on temporary foods from illegal businesses, and arbitrarily refurbish and sell expired foods and other illegal activities. Strengthen supervision and punishment.
In addition, it is necessary to establish a multi-cooperation and public-private integrated supervision system including regulatory agencies, operators, consumers, social organizations, and network platforms to minimize food safety issues in temporary food sales.
Ren Chao believes that to ensure that temporary foods are safe foods, not problem foods, regulatory agencies must conduct regular inspections and have targeted supervision of temporary foods.
Relevant departments should also formulate temporary food recycling and trading regulations, timely check the operating qualifications and purchase channels of temporary food stores, and urge enterprises to strictly implement purchase inspection records and shelf life labels.
Sellers also need to screen channels and sources of supply. When choosing upstream merchants, they strive to find well-qualified, safe and secure distributors, and try to reduce potential safety hazards from the source.
In the interview, many consumers complained that some temporary foods have a short remaining period, and they will easily expire when they are bought without paying attention. Some people buy a lot of them cheaply, and instead of eating them within the shelf life, they are wasted.
Ren Chao reminded that young consumers are the "main force" in buying temporary foods, and they should mainly purchase temporary foods and consume them appropriately; try to use formal channels, choose major manufacturers and brands, and check the shelf life before buying.
In the purchase process, although the food is still within the shelf life, it should be judged based on daily life experience.
For example, if the food has mildew, odor change, color change, state change, etc., it should be purchased with caution.
Experts interviewed by a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily said that in recent years, opposing food waste has increasingly become the participation and consensus of the whole society. The enthusiasm of the impending food market is a concrete manifestation of opposing waste and strict economy.
However, there is only a thin line between the expiration date and the expiration date. The safety of the temporary food market requires merchant self-discipline and market supervision, as well as rational purchase by consumers.