AgriChina News Alerts

Chinese consumers have been hurt by lots of food scandals in recent years and they are like burnt children who dread the fire at present.

On 9 Aug., 2012, a famous domestic financial magazine released via its microblogging service that it will publish an article that ten domestic wine products were tested and found to contain pesticide residues, namely carbendazim and metalaxyl. The stock price of Changyu, a leading Chinese wine maker, dropped by 9.83% on 10 Aug.

Most people in China don't know the difference between pesticide residues and maximum pesticide residue limits, the word "pesticide" always arouses their worries about the safety of the product. Changyu issued a statement on its official website on 11 Aug., saying that all its products are up to national standards. Some experts also explained that carbendazim and metalaxyl are normal pesticides used in grape planting and the pesticide residues are unavoidable, and it will pose no threat to humans if the pesticide residues are below the maximum pesticide residue limits.

Although this event on wine pesticide residues seems to have been settled, it is the time for domestic companies and the government to rethink and make changes. A food safety scandal will damage a company's reputation, and worse than that, it may lead to the collapse of a company, or even an industry in an instant.

In fact, domestic consumers are losing confidence in homemade food products and they are more likely to buy imported food products. The strong demand for imported dairy products is a typical example.