The strengthened efforts come amid a recent outbreak of several cases. At least 40 farmers suffered food poisoning on Tuesday in Jintan of East China's Jiangsu Province, and on Wednesday 484 people ate poisonous pork in Heyuan of South China's Guangdong Province. Fortunately, no deaths related to the cases have been reported.

Unsafe use of pesticides and growth-enhancing hormones are the major causes of these food poisoning outbreaks, said ministry official Zhao Tonggang at a high-level forum on food safety held yesterday in Beijing.

Some farmers, tempted by profits, use banned pesticides, chemicals and hormones to increase production and earn higher incomes.

The growing demand for food has expanded the number of food producing entities as well, contributing to the problem. From 1995 to 2000, the number increased from 1.2 million to 5 million throughout the country, according to ministry statistics.

In response to greater demand, many small-scale food producers using simple facilities and untrained staff have emerged, said Zhao.

They rarely use hygienic facilities for food storage and production, which has led to countless food-borne illnesses like the one that hit Jintan.

To address these problems, Health Minister Zhang Wenkang urged for improvements in the inspection system and pushed for frequent checks on every part of the food production process, including planting, breeding, production, processing, storage, transportation and sale.

"We should educate food producers to strictly follow the Law on Food Hygiene and enhance their consciousness of professional ethics," said Zhang.

Meanwhile, the supervisory role of consumers is also encouraged.

Measures will be adopted to expand consumers' access to food safety administration, he added.

After all, it is a "shared responsibility" of the government, supervisory bodies and the consumers to ensure food safety, said Lisa A. Lee, an expert with the World Health Organization.

Food-borne diseases remain prevalent in all parts of the world, Lee added. In developed countries, it is estimated that up to one-third of the population experiences a food-borne illness each year.

The United States Center for Disease Control estimates that 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses, leading to 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 to 9,000 deaths, occur each year in the United States. The cost of these diseases has been estimated to reach as much as US$7.5 million each year.

(China Daily November 10, 2001)