Earlier this month, a couple in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were detained by police on suspicion of adding alum, a banned additive, to the salted food they sell.

One of the suspects surnamed Liang said that they jumped on the bandwagon only because "others were doing it," according to local police.

Luo Guoan, a researcher with the sociology department of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, attributed these food scandals to factors including loose supervision, improper management, imperfect laws and regulations, and manufacturers' eroding credibility.

"There is an urgent need to overhaul the whole food industry," Luo said.

One of the major loopholes in the supervision chain is a lack of coordination, he said, pointing out that management of the industry involves many departments, resulting in poor efficiency.

According to Luo, the government needs to ramp up people's awareness of food safety to help crack unqualified edibles in the market.

The researcher said that China should rectify the problem by improving the Food Safety Law, including extending the range of supervision and meting out stiffer penalties to those who violate the law.

"A credibility system should be put in place to regulate the behavior of food makers," he added.

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