Opinion

Melamine supervision

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-23 14:18

We wonder how it sounded to the bureaucrats assigned to safeguard our food safety when they learned that melamine has resurfaced in the dairy market.

The public response so far may not be as strong as before, but that is not because they do not care. Instead, anger seems to have given way to a more profound disappointment and disillusionment.

And after so many promises and so much posturing against the seemingly indispensable presence of the life-threatening substance in our dairy supplies, one cannot escape an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

The exact source of the melamine-tainted yogurt discovered in Hubei province has yet to be verified.

As in all similar cases, it will help to get a clear answer to the question of source. But this time let us not focus just on who has done it and where it was done.

While the culprits must be ferreted out and brought to justice, unless we look further, and take into account the responsible authorities' failure to perform their duties, we are asking for the same problem to happen some other day.

Whether it is because they cannot do it, or they do not want to do it, consigning one's own health to the care of official quality watchdogs now appears more risky than ever.

If they cannot keep melamine away from food products after round after round of high profile crusades what can one expect?

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Lawless people are known to be adding various health-damaging substances to our food, the melamine in dairy products is just the one that has attracted the most serious official attention and prompted the most resolute crackdowns. Its re-emergence, however, challenges all previous claims and assurances of safety.

The authorities charged with ensuring that our food is safe to consume remain incompetent while we remain vulnerable.

People risk being caught and punished by law not only because the violation promises exorbitant profits, but also because our watchdogs embolden them with habitual neglect, if not complete inaction.

To be fair, those responsible for our food safety have, at least in recent years, responded - issuing an alert, ordering a probe, and making assurances.

Unfortunately, that is obviously not enough.

Melamine's continuous presence in domestic dairy products is already shaking popular confidence in the industry. Now it is beginning to erode the credibility of the relevant authorities.