Food safety has become a major concern for Chinese consumers as consumer associations across the country had received 1,621 complaints about food safety by the end of 2003, up 24.1 percent from 2002, according to the China Consumers' Association (CCA).

Personal injury, foreign matters in food, outdated or undated food and children's food safety, said Wang Qianhu, director of CCA's complaint and law department, had been the chief complaints of consumers.

Although the number has seen a decline in recent years, said Wang, beer bottle explosion stands for most of last summer's consumer injuries.

In addition, foreign matters in foodstuff, such as a piece of cotton thread found in crackers, and no shelf life or production date on a food package also raises consumers' concern.

Complaints about the safety of children's food saw a big increase, such as low quality of some milk powder and little toys included in packaged food swallowed by some small children.
 
(Xinhua News Agency  February 23, 2004)