A circular from the ministry yesterday said that 734 people were poisoned by food in the first quarter of this year, 40 of them dying.

The average number of deaths caused by food poisoning stands at 33 each quarter for the year 2000, official statistics indicated.

The misuse of pesticide-contaminated food has been recorded as the major cause of deaths over the last three months.

Other reasons for food poisoning are related to negligent supervision during food production and the lack of public awareness of contaminated food.

Stricter supervision of food safety must be carried throughout the whole process period "from the farm to the dining table," according to Chen Ri, a division official from the Law and Supervision Department of the Ministry of Health.

Cases of chemical poisoning, most often from pesticides, totalled 604, making it the most cited reason for sickness. Chemically tainted food killed 35 people, about 87 percent of the quarter's deaths.

Last year, bacteria sickened the largest number of victims, however in the first quarter of this year, bacteria causes sickness in only 21, with no deaths.

Food made from contaminated plants and animals killed 4, making it the second biggest killer.

As many as 491 people, or 77 percent of the total number of people got sick after eating contaminated food in dining halls, most were students.

"Priority will be given to supervision as a way of preventing poisoning incidents in student dining halls, and anybody found to have caused food poisoning at a school will be severely punished according to related laws," Chen said.

The circular showed that 169 food poisoning cases took place at home after people ate nitrites, blowfish, toadstools or food contaminated by pesticide.

Food poisonings that took place in the home killed 27 people, about 67 per cent of the total.

Chen said that pesticide related poisonings were particularly serious. The improper use of pesticides and the use of banned pesticides have caused a number of the poisonings, the circular noted.

The prevent of further food poisoning needs the joint efforts of many departments, including the agriculture, commercial and even public security administrations, Chen said.

The ministry began releasing food-poisoning statistics every quarter from the beginning of 2000.

(China Daily 04/19/2001)