The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) yesterday announced it established a Website providing food and drug safety information. It will offer the latest warnings on the administration's inspections.

The Website (www.spaq.sh.cn) is in response to the public's demand for information about the safety of food and drugs.

The Website will also provide educational material for employees in the food and pharmaceutical industry. They will also be able to apply for exams and licenses via the site, which will improve efficiency and save money.

Since launching a trial operation on December 18, more than 3,400 people have checked the Website, which will officially commence on January 18.

People can offer opinions, suggestions and complaints regarding the SFDA's service.

The Website is conducting a survey on the public's concerns over food and drug issues to assist the government's management, officials said.

The site currently is only in Chinese although authorities said an English version is possible in the future to meet the demands of expatriates in the city.

The SFDA also announced the results of recent examinations of restaurants and food vendors.

"We checked 700 restaurants and 280 food sales facilities during the three-day new year holiday," said Xu Jin from the SFDA's food inspection department. "Twenty-nine restaurants were found with improper storage or processing of food. We also seized 30.75 kilograms of banned aquatic products like ark shell. Fines will be issued at a future date."

(Shanghai Daily January 6, 2006)