In light of recent incidents involving rat heads found in students’ meals at educational institutions in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, and Tangshan, Hebei Province, the State Council’s Food Safety Office took swift action on Monday. The office summoned the top officials of the respective local governments to address the concerning food safety issues, as reported by China Central Television.
Both of these food safety incidents garnered widespread attention and criticism from the public. The first incident occurred on June 1 in Nanchang, where a student discovered a rat head in a meal at Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College. The institution and the local Nanchang market supervision bureau mistakenly labeled it as “duck neck.” Subsequently, a collaborative provincial investigation team uncovered the truth, leading to the revocation of the canteen’s food operation license and penalties for individuals and entities involved.
In response to this incident, the Human Resources and Social Security Authority in Jiangxi initiated a campaign to address food safety concerns at vocational and technical colleges, recognizing the importance of addressing these issues promptly.
Another alarming incident took place on October 10 when a student reported discovering a foreign object resembling a rat’s head in a cafeteria meal at North China University of Science and Technology in Tangshan. The university promptly terminated its catering contract the following day due to food safety concerns.
The State Council Food Safety Office emphasized the significance of these events, particularly the incident at Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College, which exposed issues of inadequate local food safety management in Nanchang, a lack of responsibility in industry oversight, and an insufficient emergency response, resulting in adverse societal repercussions.
Consequently, the Office urged the Nanchang government to intensify monitoring of food safety within the city, perform a comprehensive analysis of the food safety incident, implement rectification measures, and firmly uphold the standards of campus food safety. The Office committed to conducting on-site inspections and overseeing the entire process of Nanchang’s rectification efforts.
During discussions with the Tangshan government, the State Council Food Safety Office identified multiple issues stemming from the campus food safety incident at North China University of Science and Technology, including a lack of awareness regarding food safety, insufficient responsibility on the part of the university, inadequate industry oversight from competent authorities, and ineffective enforcement of local-level food safety management. These shortcomings had a negative societal impact.
The Office emphasized the necessity for Tangshan to fulfill its food safety responsibilities diligently, learn from the lessons of these incidents, execute effective rectification measures, and proactively address various risks and hidden dangers. Preserving the fundamental standards of campus food safety was deemed a crucial imperative by the Office.
