Quingdao Contract Fish Processor Showcased by China as Model Plant
SEAFOOD.COM
NEWS (Associated Press) – October 1, 2007 – QUINGDAO, China, First
comes the “Wind Shower”, wearing overalls and rubber boots, employees
at Fusheng Food Co. stand in a narrow room as air jets in the walls blow away
any dust on them. They wade through ankle-deep disinfectant and don caps,
gloves and surgical masks.
Only then can they enter the chilly, white-tiled room where they pack Alaska
salmon for American dinner tables and Russian cod for McDonalds fish sandwiches
in Japan. The Japanese-owned company says the fish already has been tested
for more than 100 banned chemicals.
“I am very confident in saying our food is excellent and the safest
in the world", Zhong Yuhua, the general manager, told reporters, who
were invited on a government-organized tour of three food exporters in Shandong
province, southeast of Beijing.
Fusheng is part of a Chinese food industry elite of export-oriented companies
that, often with foreign help, have improved quality to meet import standards
in Japan, the United States and elsewhere.
As the government tries to repair the battered “Made in China”
brand, it is holding them up as models to reassure foreign consumers and to
help improve the rest of the industry.
“Foreign companies have done a good job. They can play a leading role,
Other companies cal learn advanced management models to promote quality control",
said Huang Kunlun, the executive deputy director of the Agriculture Ministry’s
product testing center.
The reputation of China’s US$31 billion-a-year (euro 22 billion-a-year)
food export industry has taken a beating after incidents over toxic chemicals
in Chinese pet food and toothpaste and banned drugs in seafood. Other exporters
have been hammered by recalls or warnings about Chinese goods ranging from
faulty tires and baby cribs to toys tainted with lead paint.
U.S. authorities restricted imports of Chinese shrimp, eel and three types
of fish in July after tests found unapproved drugs in some shipments. Chinese
officials criticize the move as excessive. Last month, American officials
announced that one Chinese supplier was cleared to resume shipments.
At Fusheng, visitors say masked and gloved employees cut and pack salmon in
a tidy workshop. Public areas were scrubbed clean. In bathrooms, signs over
the sink reminded employees to soak their hands in disinfectant after washing.
Conditions in the rest of the industry vary widely, from companies with the
newest equipment and rigorous inspection to competitors that are accused of
substituting cheaper materials and skimping on hygiene. Chinese authorities
argue that product liability cases have involved only a small fraction of
China’s food processors.
Even before the recent safety cases, regulators were using leading exporters
as industry role models, organizing delegation of managers to study their
plants.
“A lot of visitors from companies across the country come to see how
we ensure food safety", said a spokesman for the Longda Food Group Inc.,
who would give only his surname as Jiang.” Last year we had 200 groups
of visitors. “
Longda which has joint ventures with Japanese partners, says 90 percent of
its US$203 million (euro 143 million) in exports last year went to Japan.
That included vegetable snacks sold by Itochu Corp. and 5,000 tons of Vienna
sausages.
Shandong province is the heart of China’s food export industry and has
close ties with Japan and with South Korea, which lies a short ferry ride
away across the Yellow Sea.
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