In recent times, the United Nations agency experts have appreciated the efforts made by China in ensuring food safety. At the same time, the experts have also expressed their concerns over the potential risks posed by the contamination of soil.
Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in an exclusive interview said that they have noticed plenty of improvements in China, but there is a lot more needed to be done. The chief of FAO went on to say that they are concerned about pollution in general and added that food safety not only requires minimizing the usage of fertilizers, but better management of water resources as well.
In May 2013, three rice mills in central China’s Hunan province were placed under investigation, after which it was found that the rice was contaminated with cadmium, which is a carcinogenic industrial chemical. During the first quarter of the year, food safety inspection was conducted which showed that 44.4 percent of rice and rice products in Guangzhou in South China contained very large amount of cadmium.
However, the source of the pollutant is still not found. The irrigation water and arable land was contaminated by heavy metal in fertilizers. The authorities of agriculture said that in 2012 heavy metal pollution has been spreading to rural areas from urban agricultural production bases.
