My colleagues and I have been enjoying several new restaurants and bars that have been doing brisk business since opening a few years ago on Huixin Dongjie, across the street from the Beijing University of International Business and Trade and next door to China Daily.

We enjoy an occasional respite from canteen food and never paid much attention to the restaurants' tableware until one day last year, when we found the tables at one of our favorite establishments set with dishes wrapped in plastic.

We were told that each set - a bowl, a cup, a spoon and a plate - cost 1 yuan. A label on the wrapper claimed that the dishes had been cleaned and disinfected according to standards set by the municipal health bureau. On that day, my colleagues and I refused to pay the extra 1 yuan each to use the plastic-wrapped dishes, because we thought it was ridiculous for restaurants not to provide free tableware. However, because we often eat at that restaurant, we finally gave in and paid the extra yuan, so as not to trouble the attendants. After all, we thought, it is only 1 yuan.

Recently, my husband and I went out to eat with his friends at another restaurant near our home. Seeing the tableware wrapped in plastic, one friend worried that a lot of plastic would be consumed, putting a burden on the environment. "It takes hundreds of years for plastic to break down," he pointed out. But another friend defended the plastic-wrapped tableware, arguing that dish cleaning is a growing industry which spares restaurants the trouble and expense of washing dishes and meeting government hygiene standards.

Although I was concerned about the unnecessary use of plastic, I was convinced that the creation of a new service industry would provide a lot of jobs as well as adding convenience for restaurants and customers. Now I'm not so sure. A report in Monday's Economic Information describes several businesses in Tongzhou where workers clean tableware with industrial detergent under filthy conditions.

In one workshop, the reporter saw supposedly clean tableware piled on the ground, covered with a dirty cloth. A worker told the reporter that once the dishes were sealed in plastic, "they will look very clean." In Langfang, the owner of another dish cleaning outfit told the reporter that he had no trouble registering his business as "cleaning service company," because the government has no specific category for dish cleaning. According to another insider, public health bureaus stopped issuing licenses to such companies at the end of 2004 in order to "cut red tape." As a result, no one is responsible for dish cleaning services and the public health hazard they present.

I don't remember which service provides the tableware for the restaurants in my neighborhood. I'm told there are several, established businesses that have the proper equipment to clean, disinfect, and wrap dishes on an assembly line. However, as smaller and mostly illegal businesses mushroom, these legitimate operators have seen their business diminish by one-third.

We all know that the government agencies responsible for food processing and safety are busy with major food scares, such as tainted milk. However, this is no excuse for ignoring the danger posed by smaller businesses. Government agencies must work to come up with effective mechanisms to set and enforce safety standards for all businesses involved in catering and food service. They must act now and take preemptive action if necessary to prevent another health hazard.

Meanwhile, we restaurant patrons should take a second look at tableware sealed in plastic. It may not be as clean as it looks.

(China Daily November 6, 2008)