Last month, the Chinese National People’s Congress published a Second Draft of its Food Safety Law. Public comments on the matter are still being accepted online. The law, meant to “assure food safety and safeguard people’s health and life” covers a myriad of issues, including:

• Food production, processing and distribution
• Production and trading of food additives
• Production and trading of packing materials, containers, detergents/disinfectants for foods, and tools/equipment used for food production and trading
• Food additives and food-related products used by food producers and traders
• Food storage, transportation, loading and unloading
• Safety management of food, food additives and food-related products

China’s recent efforts to shape up their food safety practices comes on the heels of more than 100 arrests of individuals suspected of selling pork, bacon, ham and cooking oil from diseased pigs. Reportedly, there was a network of people who bribed food supervising authorities into issuing quarantine certificates. Ultimately, they bought deceased pigs that perished from various illnesses on farms.

This latest food safety scandal is just the latest that China is dealing with. Previous cases involve imported powdered baby milk and foreign objects found in fast food.