| Food safety is directly linked to the health of officers and soldiers as well as a critical factor affecting combat capability. In recent years food safety incidents have repeatedly cropped up and received much attention in China. Since the issuing and implementation of the Food Safety Law in 2009, a monitoring and early-warning net(China Food Net) on food-borne diseases and a nation-wide monitoring system on chemical pollutants and hazards have been established, providing strong support for food safety assessment and pre-warning. There are parallels as well as differences in food safety between the military and the country as a whole. Increased food risks due to food services provided by non-military agencies and centralized services has rendered conventional monitoring insufficient to ensure food safety. In 2013, the military launched a three-tiered risk monitoring system composed of military health departments, secondary disease prevention and control centers and the PLA Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which provides timely warning and intervention for the successful elimination of safety hazards through a shift from extensive to systematic and regularized management, and from passive to active and scientific management.In response to the collective arrangement initiated by the military, risk monitoring stations were established as a pilot scheme in the outpatient departments of the former Headquarters of General Staff. The stations, equipped with the digital monitoring system and entrusted with the task of sampling inspection at the mess halls of the Headquarters’ departments and subordinate troops, are capable of producing real time data, using in situ quantitative and semi-quantitative detection. Since 2013, under the guidance of the Military Annual Program for Food Safety Risk Monitoring, sample inspection has been conducted for 8 indicators, namely, pesticide residues, illegal addition, residues of veterinary drugs, food quality, bean products, mycotoxins, food additives, heavy metal contamination, and cleanliness of tablewares, which involved 8 types of food: grains and grain products, vegetables and fruits, beverages, livestock and poultry meat and the products, edible oil and spices, aquatic products, bean products, and dairy products. The results obtained from the inspection have been applied in the preventive measures for the effective control of food safety risks.Due to the various types of food service providers, different army-stationed areas, purchasing channels, as well as the significant differences in the varieties, quantities and cycles of the purchases, the risk factors are different in different food service agencies. Recommendations for corrective actions are needed following the assessment of the unified sampling regimes detailing the safety risks of different types and properties of food. Our study focuses on the following two parts:Part I Risk factor analysisFour mess halls at the Headquarters of the General Staff were selected for a study of the types and quantities of food raw materials consumed in different types of messes. Those four mess halls were: the officers’ mess hall at the Headquarters of the General Staff, the officers’ mess hall at a general communication station, the mess hall at a signal regiment, and the mess hall at a detachment station, representing the Headquarters’ offices, the troops offices, the organic units and the detachments. On the basis of the general information, the purchases of the 4 mess halls during February, May, August, and November in 2015 were examined by means of consulting the standing books. Comparative analysis was made of the varieties, manufacturers, quantities, purchasing channels, and purchasing cycles, following the state food classification. The results revealed that grains and grain products, vegetables and fruits, beverages, livestock and poultry meat and processed products, edible oil and spices, aquatic products, bean products, and dairy products dominated the purchases, conforming to the food varieties that are required to be sample inspected by the armed forces.The purchase of food materials in the mess halls at the Headquarters’ offices, troops offices, and organic units was chiefly made through military supplies, centralized purchasing or regular suppliers, whereby safety is generally guaranteed and if problems occur, the food material suppliers can be held accountable. The suppliers of raw materials for the detachment mess halls are mainly the small farm produce markets nearby, posing a substantial food safety risk. Therefore it is advisable to replace them by military supplies, centralized purchasing or regular suppliers. Part II Sampling analysisSampling inspection was performed for 1260 samples from the above 4 mess halls. Following the Military Technical Manual for Food Risk Monitoring and using spectrophotometry and euzymelinked immunosorbent assay under the BAKN Digital Monitoring System, inspection was performed for pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, heavy metals, food additives, illegal additives, and mycotoxins.The chemical pollutants exceeding the standard were at a rate of 2.94%. With a highest figure of 9.17% for beans and bean products, followed by spices( 6.25%),aquatic products(3.57%), vegetables and fruits(2.46%),livestock and poultry meat(2.27%), grains and grain products(1.79%), while beverages and water, milk and dairy products were all up to standards.In breakdown, the amount of illegal added chemical pollutants was found to be the highest, reaching6.05%, followed by pesticide residues(2.56%), food additives(1.67%),mycotoxins(1.56%),residues of veterinary drugs(0.93%), where heavy metal was detected exceeding the standard.In terms of different mess halls, the number was 6.06%,2.88%, 2.24%, and1.34%, respectively. There was a significant difference in chemical pollutants between the mess hall of the Transport Station and those of the office mess hall, the office mess hall of the General Signal Station, and the Signal Regiment, whereas there was no significant difference in chemical pollutants between other mess halls.The investigation has also identified some isolated cases where it is necessary to make adjustment in the items, times and frequencies of monitoring. Firstly, in consideration of the substantial quantity of bean products purchased and the high rate of illegal additives detected, it is suggested that the times and frequencies of inspection for chemical pollutants be increased. Secondly, it is also recommended that additional inspection be carried out for lead contained in vegetables and cadmium found in grains and grain products and the insides of animals, owing to the fact that vegetables and rice dominate the consumption by the armed forces, as well as the findings in the state report on “ serious lead pollution in some vegetable producing areas and cadmium pollution in the main rice producing areas and livestock insides ”. Thirdly, a increased amount of clenbuterol detected over previous years, which was higher than that in pig meat and liver, it is advised that extra inspection be conducted on beef and mutton for veterinary drug residues. |
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