The "foot-pickled vegetables" incident has not yet subsided, and the "mouth-peeled broad beans" incident has arisen again.

[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
 
Case review
[2] Recently, media reported that at a farm product processing workshop in Yuncun Village, Kunming, Yunnan, workers were directly shelling fava beans with their mouths.

 
 

Even when staff from the market supervision office arrived at the scene, the workers in the workshop paid them no mind and continued shelling broad beans with their mouths. Had law enforcement personnel not shown up, these “saliva broad beans” would have been sent to wholesale markets for distribution.
 
[4] Facing the law enforcement officers, the boss argued that his business was too good, leading to jealousy and a report from competitors.
 
Look at this food processing workshop that has been exposed—it is riddled with health and safety problems. Not only were all the workers and the person in charge unable to present health certificates on site, but they also failed to meet even basic hygiene requirements. The “processing method” of workers peeling broad beans directly with their mouths was even more shocking.

 
 

 
 
[1] Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 2
Food producers and traders shall engage in production and business activities in accordance with laws, regulations, and food safety standards, and shall be responsible to society and the public to ensure food safety.
 
Article 27
Food production and operation shall comply with food safety standards and meet the following requirements:
……
(8) Food production and business personnel shall maintain personal hygiene. When producing and dealing in food, they shall wash their hands and wear clean work clothes and caps; when selling unpackaged ready-to-eat food, they shall use non-toxic and clean sales tools.
……

 

 
[1] The author's perspective
In the Food Safety Law, beyond the requirements that food production and operation personnel should maintain personal hygiene, wash their hands before producing or handling food, and wear clean work clothes and hats, food producers and operators are also required to establish and implement a health management system for employees. Food production and operation personnel must undergo an annual health examination and obtain a health certificate before they can commence work. In this case, the "saliva broad bean workshop" clearly failed to meet even a single one of these requirements. Judging from the attitude of the boss and the workers when facing law enforcement officers, they had absolutely no regard for the public's food safety, lacked even the most basic awareness of food safety and hygiene, and even seemed to believe that as long as no one died from eating the food, there was no major problem. Yet once a problem arises, who can bear that responsibility?
 
 
"Food is the first necessity of the people," and there must be no ambiguity whatsoever in food safety. The recent controversy over cabbage trampled underfoot has barely subsided, and now beans shelled by mouth have emerged. These increasingly outrageous "processing methods" only make the public more distrustful of food, ultimately creating a lose-lose situation for both consumers and food producers and operators. On the one hand, market regulatory authorities need to conduct routine inspections and law enforcement and carry out publicity on food safety laws and regulations. On the other hand, food producers and operators should actively participate in and study food safety and hygiene legal publicity activities, raise their legal awareness, foster a sense of responsibility, and contribute their part to the healthy and long-term development of the food industry.