Inundated with reports of all manners of food being stuffed with toxins, ordinary people in China seem to have become resigned to the situation. If the authorities can't do something to save the day, what can the grass roots do?

But one misconception about the root of the widespread fraud is that it stems from the lack of personal morality in some businessmen.

Personal ethics is all very well, but for the business community as a whole, morality stems from long-lasting enforcement of stringent laws, rules and regulations. Mere talk of morality without harsh punishments for offenders is building castles in the air.

As Ambrosius Macrobius (395–423), a Roman scholar, said, "Good laws have their origins in bad morals."

A little anecdote may illustrate the statement. In English, "Baker's dozen" means thirteen. In the past, in England, by throwing in one extra bun or roll, the baker insured that the dozen he sold was of sufficient total weight, thus proving his honesty. So the origin of the phrase has something to do with honesty.

Bread was an important political issue for many centuries of European history. In very early times, England often went through periods of failing crops and famine. Well aware that famine created unrest among the people, the rulers tried to keep the price of bread from fluctuating too much. The earliest recorded law was issued in 1202, which not only placed a cap on the prices of bread, but also specified what portion of that price was supposed to apply to the cost of ingredients and what portion was supposed to apply to the baker's profit.