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After concerns from its citizens which were sparked by online conversations about fuel tankers being used to transport cooking oil across China, outrage about potential food contamination has been plaguing the country’s government. Blowing up bigger than the Sanlu milk scandal of 2008, reports from Beijing News suggested that fuel tankers were spotted carrying edible products like cooking oil and syrup without following decontamination procedures. Although some state that this manner of transportation has been common practice for a while, questions have been raised against the government’s incapacity to uphold food safety standards.
Image Credits: Purti Oil
While the government has claimed to inspect the matter further along with its food safety officials, China’s micro-blogging website equivalent to X (formerly Twitter) – Weibo – has been actively criticising this oversight of public interest. While the country’s law allows for transportation of all kinds of goods using tankers, cleaning them before ferrying food products is also a mandate that needs to be adhered to. While major Chinese oil companies such as Hopefull Grain and Oil Group have been blacklisted in the latest scandal, the state-owned Sinograin has launched an investigation on the matter.
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In the history of China’s food scandals, 2008’s tragic incident led to 3,00,000 children falling terminally ill and six dying due to the consumption of powdered milk which was contaminated with industrial melamine. While local governments of Hebei and Tianjin provincial have promised to look into the matter closely, stringent punishment has been guaranteed for those found in violation with the safety parameters. Sinograin has also taken further measures to suspend any tankers found committing the foul with immediate effect.
