September 6, 2026

Tracing Food Safety in China: Challenges with Technology

Truy xuất nguồn gốc thực phẩm tại Trung Quốc: Thách thức với công nghệ

This reading was translated and simplified for German learners. The original content belongs to Tia Sang - Van Hoa Xa Hoi.

Tracing Food Safety in China: Challenges with Technology

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China uses advanced technologies like blockchain, AI, and big data to trace food. But it is difficult. The reason is the market structure. There are over 100 million small farmers at the start of the chain. Then come traders and small distributors at the end.

On August 22, a Chinese vlogger posted videos. The videos showed traders in Kangbao county (Zhangjiakou city, Hebei province). They bought cabbage. They dipped the roots into a formaldehyde solution. This kept the vegetables fresh longer. Formaldehyde is a disinfectant. It prevents rotting. It is used in laboratories. It is banned for food preservation. It can cause cancer.

There was national outrage. Regulators immediately tested the cabbage transported from Kangbao county. They checked the vegetable supply chain. Three suspects were detained for the investigation. Neighboring countries that import Chinese vegetables tightened inspections on cabbage from China.

Many Chinese people were not surprised. Incidents of formaldehyde abuse for food preservation have been found since 2012. Recently, a cleaning service company was investigated. They used banned pesticides to clean restaurants. People also remember the 2008 milk powder scandal. It was contaminated with melamine. It sickened many children and caused deaths.

The formaldehyde cabbage scandal shocked China. The photo is a screenshot from a video. It shows chemical bottles labeled "formaldehyde solution" (left) on a truck carrying cabbage. Photo: Xinhua

China has political will and technology for tracing, but...

Actually, the Chinese government has made strong efforts. It wants to reform and tighten food safety management. Central food agencies were merged. They are under the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). The state standardized national food safety rules. Compared to European regulations, China has stricter penalties. For example, in the melamine milk scandal, two people received the death penalty.

In 2013, at the Central Rural Work Conference, President Xi Jinping said the credibility of the Communist Party of China is directly linked to food safety. "If our Party cannot guarantee food safety, people will start to question whether we are capable enough to lead."

Recently, China made progress on pesticide use in agriculture. According to Even Pay, Director of agricultural research company Trivium China, Chinese farmers now use fewer pesticides. This is due to efforts in training, crop inspection, and banning harmful chemicals. This reduced pesticide residues in food. A study in Sichuan province found that pesticide spraying on crops decreased by one-third from 2010 to 2020.

According to an EU-funded study, China shifted its management approach. It changed from reacting after incidents to preventing risks and tracing origins. This is similar to European regulations.

To implement tracing, China uses the most advanced technologies. Since 2017, IBM, Walmart, Tsinghua University, and e-commerce giant JD.com formed a Blockchain Food Safety Alliance. They aim to standardize food safety management using blockchain. Results from a pilot project showed that blockchain can shorten the time to trace a batch of mangoes. It can go from farm to retail in just 2 seconds, instead of weeks.

Blockchain tracing works on a principle: data is recorded each time agricultural products pass a step in the chain. Blockchain prevents recorded data from being altered. It creates a continuous record from farm to store. In the whole supply chain, managers and consumers can see the product history.

However, even advanced technology has limits. Blockchain protects data integrity after data is recorded. But it does not verify if the data is true. If a producer or trader reports falsely, or if an action like spraying chemicals happens before the information enters the system, blockchain cannot detect it.

Studies on blockchain-based agricultural tracing systems point to risks. Information can be falsified before it is entered onto the blockchain. Preventing fraud depends on monitoring mechanisms. These force parties to be honest. Tracing technology cannot completely replace field inspections, sampling, and testing.

Challenges when the agricultural chain is fragmented

Food safety control is a difficult problem worldwide. For example, the USA is also facing a parasite outbreak spread through lettuce. But in China, the difficulty is much greater. This is because of the market structure. The agricultural chain is too fragmented.

China's agriculture relies on some large producers. It also relies on 160 million small farming households. There are also hundreds of thousands of traders. They transport grain, vegetables, and fruits from rural areas to cities. So, even if very advanced technology systems are built at the national level, China still has to manage millions of points. These include production, purchasing, transport, processing, and retail. Their capabilities vary greatly. Each link can become a blind spot in the system. Blockchain technology prevents anyone from changing data. But if vegetables are dipped in chemicals before...

Tracing Food Safety in China: Challenges with Technology

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