Authorities ‘fully alert’ to wanghong food risks

The term translates as online celebrity and extends to food and brands that have been made popular by online champions who are often paid for their reviews. This, food authorities believe, has led to an increase in unsafe products.

“We must be fully alert to wanghong food​,” said Yan Zuqiang, director of the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration. “This is because their very popularity means if food safety problems were found, the problem was worsened​.” 

More than 6,000 officials in 16 districts have been dispatched over the last month to inspect some 2,000 food and beverage stores, many of which sell wanghong foods. 

Around 300 cases were being investigated for offences found in the inspection, Yan said. 

The city has witnessed string of scandals involving wanghong food, according to Shanghai Daily​. Among the most notable, the Farine bakery franchise in the city was shut down over allegations of using expired flour earlier this year. 

The case followed the shuttering of Michelin-starred Taian Table, another wanghong ​favourite, for operating without licences last year. 

Cases like these had prompted his teams to enhance supervision, said Yan. 

Meanwhile, the administration had also checked 1,154 home-made food restaurants recently, and closed 672 for operating without a license, Yan added. 

Elsewhere in Shanghai, a recent survey by the the city’s Statistics Bureau has found that over 83% of residents were satisfied with food safety last year, up 15.6 percentage points from 2015.

Over 80 per cent of those surveyed said they appreciated efforts by local authorities to increase food safety, and reported higher expectations for their activities in 2017.

Officials said they are now planning increased outreach by organising community lectures and food safety awareness seminars. They will also work with social media platforms, including the ubiquitous WeChat, to release new food safety information to the public.