New tech can help to keep food safe

"The feasibility of the new legal articles should be carefully studied to help with enforcement," he said.

For example, the public should at least have easy and wide access to report food safety problems, he said, adding that measures like introducing a third party channel to receive public reports should be considered.

"Many people are now reluctant to report for fear of leakage of private information and potential revenge by those breaking the law," he said.

Zhang Yong, chief of the China Food and Drug Administration, said that regulation of food safety is part of social management, so it requires participation of all stakeholders including government agencies, the public and the food industry.

"Government supervision and law enforcement alone can hardly ensure food safety given its great variety and complexity," he said.

However, "industry practitioners should be first in line to ensure and be accountable for food safety and quality," he said.

Zong Qinghou, chairman of beverage giant Wahaha, said: "To ensure food safety, all those involved in the food chain, including farmers, producers and sellers, must maintain credibility and be honest to consumers, and provide safe and healthy food."

A fair distribution of profits among producers and sellers is also important for food safety, he said.

"A prominent problem for the food industry is that most profits have been taken away by retailers, such as big shopping malls, forcing food producers to keep agricultural products that they buy from farmers at a very low price," he said. "This results in little profit for farmers, forcing them to ignore the quality of agricultural products or even adulterate them."

Fair prices should be ensured for farmers to sell agricultural products to improve food safety, he said.