Beverages not labeled with "safety hazards," the prosecutor's office has taken action!

Sourced from: Legal Daily

Recently, in Halang County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, an ongoing month-long special rectification campaign was carried out. Law enforcement personnel were organized to conduct a full “health check” of food production and business operators in the jurisdiction, including milk tea shops, restaurants, and supermarkets. This comprehensive health check, however, stems from a procuratorial recommendation issued by the People’s Procuratorate of Halang County.

The photo shows the People’s Procuratorate of Halang County and relevant departments conducting on-site supervision and inspections of the rectification of standardized labeling at milk tea shops.

In January this year, during routine screening, officers from the Civil Administration and Public Interest Litigation Procuratorate at the People’s Procuratorate of Halang County discovered that on online food delivery platforms within the jurisdiction, for some beverages containing peach gum, the sales details and the ingredient lists failed to indicate unsuitable populations and consumption limits. Meanwhile, according to an announcement released by the National Health Commission in 2023, as a new food ingredient, peach gum is recommended to be consumed at no more than 30 grams per day, and it is not suitable for infants, young children, pregnant women, or women who are breastfeeding. Relevant labels must be clearly disclosed.

At the same time, some beverages containing alcohol, lactose, and allergens also lacked risk warnings, creating health hazards for vulnerable groups. Online catering has a broad coverage area and a fast dissemination speed. Among milk tea consumers, the proportion of women is relatively high, and it is not uncommon to include people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Missing labels means that vulnerable groups may mistakenly consume the product and/or consume it in excessive amounts without knowing. Potential risks are posed to the rights to health and to informed consent, and the social public interest is being infringed upon.

On February 3, the People’s Procuratorate of Halang County, in accordance with law, issued a procuratorial recommendation to relevant administrative authorities. It required them to perform their regulatory duties in accordance with law, to urge delivery merchants to complete rectification within a time limit, and to fully standardize label and marking requirements. It also called for carrying out a special rectification campaign for the production and sale of beverages both online and offline, to prompt operators to implement their main responsibility for food safety, to increase publicity regarding the addition, use, and management of new food ingredients, and to guide food business operators to conduct their business in accordance with laws and regulations.

After the procuratorial recommendation was issued, the relevant administrative authorities responded quickly, and advanced rectification by adopting a combination of online and offline approaches. They drafted a “Letter of Warning to Beverage Production and Sales Units Regarding Standardized Labeling of Beverage Products Containing New Food Ingredients,” and published it through their official WeChat account. Starting March 1, a month-long special rectification campaign was carried out, and law enforcement personnel organized a comprehensive “health check” of food production and business operators in the jurisdiction, including milk tea shops, restaurants, and supermarkets.

In early March, at the invitation of the administrative authorities, the People’s Procuratorate of Halang County jointly conducted supervision and inspection. It urged milk tea shops on site to rectify their standardized labeling. At the same time, by leveraging new media columns, it popularized food safety knowledge to the public about that milk tea add-ons may contain peach gum, alcohol, cow’s milk, and various allergens. At present, milk tea shops and sugar-water shops producing and selling beverages within the jurisdiction have uniformly standardized risk warnings and consumption limits on their storefronts, menus, and delivery pages.

Author｜All-media reporter from Legal Daily Shen Dong

Source｜Legal Daily