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Emergency plan set up for food safety accidents
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-01-15 14:21
Two months after four people sued the city for delays in warning people not to eat snails infested with parasites, Beijing has come up with a series of alerts and actions it will take in the event of an outbreak of illness caused by contaminated food.
When a food emergency occurs the city will immediately set up teams to handle medical treatment, testing and assessment, news briefings and investigations, according to a newly release emergency plan.
The city's food safety authorities will also seize, ban or recall food products that are determined to be harmful.
The city's quick response measures will involve the municipal and county government departments of health, education, public security and industry and commerce administrations in Beijing, the plan said.
The plan was issued by the capital's emergency management office and food safety office on Sunday.
Food safety has become of the top concerns of city residents following a series of food-related accidents last year.
Between June 24 and August 9, dozens of people were sickened by a parasite after eating raw or undercooked snails in a local restaurant. In November, four people who were hospitalized after eating the snails launched a suit against the city's health bureau, claiming the city didn't make public the dangers posed by the snails until August 17th. The results of their law suit were not immediately known.
The country's food and drug regulator, the State Food and Drug Administration, is evaluating food safety measures in 31 major cities.
The campaign, in its fourth year in China, aims to evaluate the performance of local government food safety supervision and citizen's satisfaction with food safety over the past 12 months.
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