IUFoST and CIFST Form Expert Panel on Food Safety Dedicated to Improving Standards within China

The IUFoST International Expert Panel on Food Safety has been assembled with the objective of helping guide China towards the best case practices in regards to standardization, consumer health and maintaining proper regulation along all levels of the supply chain.

09/06/09 The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), in partnership with the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST) announce the establishment of the first IUFoST International Expert Panel on Food Safety. This panel is global in scope with distinguished members drawn from China, North America and Europe, representing global expertise from industry/R&D, government and academia. The first meeting between the expert panel and senior Chinese Government officials will be in Beijing, China, June 25-26, to discuss emerging and established issues facing the Chinese food community.

The IUFoST International Expert Panel on Food Safety includes some of the most distinguished leaders of the international food science community. The Expert Panel includes Patrick Wall, Past Chair of the European Food Safety Authority and Joseph Jen, former Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mary Schmidl, Chair of the Scientific Council for the global organization for food science and technology and IUFoST President Prof Geoffrey Campbell-Platt join Prof. Pan Beilei, CIFST President and Deputy Director of State Food and Nutrition Consultant Committee, Prof. Chen Junshi, academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Dr. Liu Xiumei Chief Scientist on Food Safety of CDC, Dr. Rao Pingfan, Director of Institute of Biotechnology, Fuzhou University of China and Prof. Hu Xiaosong, China Agriculture University.

The IUFoST International Expert Panel on Food Safety has been assembled with the objective of helping guide China towards the best case practices in regards to standardization, consumer health and maintaining proper regulation along all levels of the supply chain. By providing expert scientific advice, this Distinguished Panel will help those in the Chinese food industry develop a cohesive plan on how to deal with food safety issues along the entire food supply chains and effectively implement the right standards and laws to keep the industry at a world class level.

China’s food industry is currently experiencing a significant transformation, and food safety in China is also facing profound challenges. This is due to a combination of domestic and external forces that are changing the way food is monitored and standardized not only in China, but around the world. China took a major step towards improving national food safety standards on February 28, 2009 when the National People’s Congress approved the ‘China Food Safety Law’.

This law took effect on June 1, 2009 and will have broad implications for what will be permitted within the Chinese food industry. Along with other sectors, food safety management systems and inspection systems will be undergoing dramatic changes. The international exchange of ideas and collaboration on food safety issues are extremely important and necessary for the successful implementation of these changes at this critical time. CIFST is eager to collaborate with IUFoST to contribute to the food industry not only in China, but also the whole world. CIFST has arranged this meeting between the officials from China and the experts from the distinguished panel to push the exchange of information to a new and extraordinary level. IUFoST will follow this successful collaboration with additional meetings planned for Asia and around the globe.