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Lunch-box season brings dangers
Following orders from the Ministry of Public Security, Shanghai destroys more than 9,250 useless vehicles yesterday.
Bian Yi
Shanghai_Delta
page01 2006-6-30
Officials from the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SHFDA) warn consumers to beware of the substandard lunch boxes offered by unlicensed restaurants.
The arrival of the hot and humid monsoon season has brought renewed attention to food safety issues. Ordered lunch boxes are in especially high demand among office workers during the summer months.
Wang, a worker at Rice Baby, a fast-food restaurant on Central Huaihai Road delivering lunch-boxes, said the hot weather had brought a substantial rise in demand this month.
The SHFDA said this increase might be good news for restaurants engaged in the businesses, but might not be good for their customers.
According to the estimation of SHFDA, demand for lunch boxes surpasses legitimate supply by 800,000 boxes a day. Only 245 restaurants are licensed by the SHFDA - a number falling far below the level required to satisfy demand.
The supply gap makes an opening for unlicensed vendors, with consequent hygiene concerns.
Yao Yun, a senior accountant with a foreign-funded company, has twice fallen victim to substandard lunch boxes.
"The beef smelled weird in the lunch box I ordered the day before yesterday, so I threw it away," he said.
Two years ago Yao had a far worse experience, eating a lunch box meal that gave him a stomach disorder lasting two days.
Yao is very busy, there are not many restaurants near his office and he does not have much time to eat outside at lunchtime.
Zhang Yan, a clerical worker in a joint venture, said Yao should be more careful when selecting a restaurant to provide boxed lunches.
"I always choose restaurants my colleagues or I are already familiar with, even if this risks boredom," she said.
The SHFDA said it was conducting inspections of most restaurants delivering lunch boxes in order to better protect consumers.
However, Zhang Wei, who works for the SHFDA, reminded customers they also had a responsibility to protect themselves.
The SHFDA has listed every restaurant licensed to operate a lunch-box delivery service at its website www.shfda.gov.cn, so customers can look for a safe restaurant near their office.
Officials also warned consumers that some restaurants licensed for operation might not be licensed for delivery, so food safety problems could arise in the delivery process.
Consumers can check to make sure restaurants are licensed and even inspect their cooking utensils and delivery facilities themselves, the SHFDA suggested.
Officials added that customers discovering illegally operating restaurants could report them to the SHFDA hotline: 5383-5500. |
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