Article debut Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center If you need to reprint, please contact the Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center.

——Chen Junshi, researcher of National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Recently, Huishan Dairy has been pushed to the forefront of food safety. Experts from the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center made a scientific assessment and interpretation from the perspective of safety, and proved that the detected thiocyanate level is within the safe range, so consumers need not worry.

On the evening of the 29th, the Food and Drug Administration of Hebei Province also announced that, based on the results of emergency sampling inspection, experts were again organized to study and judge that 15.2 The detection value of mg/kg is of low health risk to consumers, so it is decided to withdraw the food sales safety warning issued on September 24.

So far, the truth of this event has been clear, that is, it is normal to detect thiocyanates in milk, because there are already thiocyanates in milk; There is no need to worry about the level of detection this time. At the same time, the so-called "exceeding standard" of sodium thiocyanate in milk is a myth, because the national food safety standards in China do not set the limit value of thiocyanate in milk.

From this Oolong incident, I think we should at least get three inspirations:

First, under the current specific public opinion in China, it is necessary to strengthen the expert interpretation of various "food safety incidents" reported by the media in a timely manner, because the daily science popularization cannot cover all kinds of difficult to estimate situations, such as thiocyanate in milk this time. To achieve this, in addition to the initiative of experts themselves and third-party information exchange institutions based on experts, the support and guidance of the government is very important.

Second, when releasing food safety information, government regulatory authorities should strictly comply with the provisions of the new food safety law, for example, in the new food safety law, Article 23 stipulates that "the food and drug supervision and administration departments of the people's governments at or above the county level... shall, in accordance with the principles of science, objectivity, timeliness and openness,..., exchange and communicate on food safety risk assessment information and food safety supervision and administration information", and specifically "in accordance with the principles of science, objectivity, timeliness and openness"; Article 118 stipulates that "food safety information shall be published accurately and timely, and necessary explanations shall be given to avoid misleading consumers and public opinion". The information released this time involves sensitive dairy issues, so we should be cautious in particular, and never make management decisions.

Third, risk management should be based on science. Risk management decisions should be based on science, which is also a highlight of the new food safety law. If the Hebei Food and Drug Administration communicates with relevant departments and authoritative experts in advance before releasing the food safety warning information, it will not cause such a black dragon, nor will it cause unnecessary panic to consumers. Through this event, it also reminds the government regulatory authorities to take science as the criterion when making risk management decisions in the future.

Extended reading:

Chen Junshi The Position of Risk Exchange in the New Food Safety Law

Liu Zhaoping, Yong Ling What's the matter of detecting sodium thiocyanate in milk?