Food safety week kicks off in Shanghai's Baoshan District
The 2024 Baoshan District Food Safety Promotion Week kicked off on Wednesday, with the suburban Shanghai district's first batch of food and drug science centers authorized to raise awareness on food safety and spread food-saving habit among the public.
The food safety awareness and satisfaction level among residents in Baoshan came in at 90 points last year, a record high, with no group food poisoning cases reported, according to the district government.
Six enterprises were certified as being part of the Shanghai Baoshan Food & Drug Science Center, which will hold food and drug safety science popularization activities.
During the opening ceremony on Wednesday, six enterprises were authorized to be part of the Shanghai Baoshan Food & Drug Science Center. The center will be tasked with conducting food and drug safety science popularization activities.
As part of the weeklong activities, a special "food safety class" was jointly hosted by the district's food regulators and education authorities along with the popular hotpot chain Haidilao, which was among the six enterprises.
During a fun trip, seven families with children, wearing uniforms and masks, visited the kitchen of the Baoyang Powerlong Plaza outlet of Haidilao, experimented with food and explored food safety knowledge in daily life such as psychrophilic bacteria in the refrigerator and how to properly preserve food.
Under the guidance of restaurant staff, children experienced the "sugar content testing" process to identify good food ingredients and test their quality.
Children attend a class at an outlet of hotpot chain Haidilao in Baoshan District on Wednesday.
Officials from the district's market regulation administration shared food safety knowledge on the trip.
In the kitchen, a color-coding system with warning labels marked in different colors that signify the stock status of different food ingredients is applied to raise the management efficiency of the storage room so as to avoid spoilage and effectively reduce food waste.
At Haidilao, each restaurant has a dedicated food safety officer who bears primary responsibility for food quality at the outlet. Through a rotation system, these officers check and supervise food safety work of the day, spot and fix loopholes, and strengthen employees' awareness on food safety.
"I am happy to have so much new knowledge on food and I am ready to arrange our refrigerator after I return home," said eight-year-old Yang Yang.
"Such educational and entertaining parent-child science popularization activities, which combine real-life situation, is very meaningful and interesting, and I hope there will be more such activities in the future," his mother added.
In total, 99.2 percent of major food samples passed tests in Shanghai last year, remaining at a relatively high level, and city residents scored 91 points on food safety awareness, also a record high, according to the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.
Children imbibe food safety knowledge.
The children pose with a special certificate after the class.
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