SINGAPORE: At the supermarket, Madam Christina Choo, 47, carefully picks her fruit and vegetables, avoiding those labelled “from China”. Mdm Wendy Tan, 37, does the same for the biscuits she buys, forking out at least 20 cents more for a local brand.
A growing number of Singaporean consumers are becoming wary of food products from China, following recent scares around the world that have thrown the safety of Chinese exports into question.
Since March, reports have surfaced of tainted pet food and toothpastes and toxic pufferfish mistakenly labelled as monkfish.
None of these events, however has touched Singapore, and there has been only one publicised case of food from China being rejected by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) this year — 11 consignments of salted duck eggs contaminated with a prohibited dye.
So, is there anything for Singaporeans to worry about?
Last year, fruits and vegetables from from China accounted for about 21 per cent of SingaporeÂ’s total supply. Chinese pork, chicken and duck imports made up a mere 2.4 per cent, while barely 0.3 per cent of pet food came from China.
The country was also SingaporeÂ’s source for 225,960 tonnes of processed food.
Asked if it was going to step up its checks on Chinese food products, the AVA said it has in place a “comprehensive food safety system”. It constantly “keeps a watching brief on the global food safety situation to identify and monitor potential food issues of health threats to our local situation”, it added.
But even knowing this has not assuaged Mdm Lydia WanÂ’s concerns. The financial adviser no longer buys Chinese canned meat from her neighbourhood provision store.
“Even though our authorities are strict, they do random checking and there’s a chance I might have already eaten the contaminated product before it gets recalled. Why put my family at risk?” said Mdm Wan, 52, a mother of three.
Food importers TODAY spoke to said while the demand for China foodstuff from retailers has not dropped, they have become more vigilant. Mr Jack Koh, president of the Meat Traders Association and the deputy chairman of Jordan Food International, said his company “flies our guys to China to see how the farms and the plants that we work with operate”.
These routine checks would now have to be doubled, he added.
Mr Tay Khiam Back, president of the Singapore Fruits and Vegetables Importers and Exporters Association, has been warning his association members to do more comprehensive research on how a product is being made overseas, and to communicate to the exporter what requirements Singapore has.
As for canned food distributor Yit Hong Pte Ltd, which sources 90 per cent of its imports from China, managing director Mr Ngo Soo Lin said the key was to work with a select pool of “reputable factories”.
Besides personally inspecting the factories once a month, Mr Ngo said he sources for products together with his local Chinese partners, and submits test results of any new product to AVA for approval before importing it. None of Yit HongÂ’s canned Chinese products have been rejected so far.
Companies with factories in China, such as biscuit and candy importer Sinhua Hock Kee Trading, said their China-based quality control teams must submit a breakdown of ingredients before beginning the manufacturing process.