China vegetables to get Olympic identity codes
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-19 11:50 The world's most populous country will now begin
tracking its vegetables.
In an attempt to ensure food safety during the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is to
give every cabbage, carrot and pea pod its own identity number and file, the
Beijing News reported on Wednesday.
If there is a "safety incident" the vegetable's file can be immediately
checked and its origins traced, the newspaper said, in a report accompanied by
graphics showing personnel at computers tracking each vegetable's path from farm
to plate.
"Safety incidents" was a likely reference to pesticide or pollutants in the
soil. The environment group Greenpeace has found banned pesticides and excessive
levels of other chemicals in vegetables supplied from China.
"After going through inspections at the distribution centre, standard and
qualified vegetables can enter Olympic kitchens," the Beijing News report said.
The city will need more than 5,000 tonnes of vegetables during the Olympics,
mostly from Beijing and the northern Chinese provinces of Hebei and Shandong.
The report made no mention of fruit.
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