Some skeptical of China's new food safety law

BEIJING -- Following recent tainted milk and pet food scandals that damaged the "Made in China" brand worldwide, some Chinese experts and consumers are worried that the country's first food safety law may not be enough to prevent a repeat.

The new law, which China's legislature passed Saturday, toughens penalties against makers of tainted food. It also establishes a Cabinet-level food safety commission to improve monitoring, beef up safety standards, and recall substandard products.

Wu Yongning, deputy director of China's National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, said the new law is a lost opportunity to create a single, powerful body — akin to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — to handle food safety.

Wu counts 13 Chinese government departments with a hand in food safety. He said at least five will remain heavily involved under the new law.

"There has been no fundamental reform of the system that many people in the industry hoped for," Wu said.

"There will be better coordination, but problems like Sanlu will still happen," he said.

Sanlu was the company that in August recalled 700 tons of powdered milk adulterated with melamine, a chemical that is harmful to humans but was added to falsify protein readings. Across China, tainted milk killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 people. In 2007, thousands of American pets were sickened by Chinese pet food also containing melamine.

In recent years, Beijing has launched a series of crackdowns against substandard food producers. The FDA also opened up its first overseas offices in China last November.

The new law, effective June 1, and the new commission, to be based in the Ministry of Health, represent the most forceful effort yet at solving food safety issues.

The law "is very encouraging, it's progress, and American consumers can see the Chinese government really takes this issue seriously," said Luo Yunbo, director of the Food Science and Nutrition Engineering Institute at Beijing's China Agricultural University, who has advised lawmakers. "But it takes time as food safety is very complicated and all the problems won't be solved overnight, such as the morals of factory owners, and the education of the public," he said.