August 24, 2007

China launches pork tracing system

Qianxihe Food Corporation - 2008 Beijing Olympics exclusive pork supplier - has set up China's first comprehensive pork tracing system as part of Beijing's efforts to ensure food safety during the Games.

Set up in collaboration with the Beijing food safety authorities, this comprehensive tracing system will provide integrated management of the entire pork production process - from hog rearing, transport, slaughter, meat processing all the way to the point where it reaches the supermarket - via a barcode pasted on the pork products, according to a Qianxihe spokesman.

China's consumers can now obtain all these pork production information through a scan of the bar code when purchasing Qianxihe, Huadu and Pengcheng brands of pork in supermarkets. Any problematic pork products can thus be immediately traced to its source. According to the Beijing Agriculture Bureau, this tracing system is currently being tested in Beijing, Shanghai and a few other areas.

Qianxihe's pork tracing system forms a major component of Beijing's plans to ensure food safety during the Games, which include attaching electronic labels on important food items like rice, flour, edible oil and dairy products as well as developing a food safety database.