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China should introduce mandatory standards for edible oil transport to reduce rising food safety concerns among consumers, according to experts quoted in a China Daily report.

Several edible oil companies had reassured consumers of the safe transportation of edible oils following allegations made in an earlier Beijing News report that stockpilers, including Sanhe Hopefull Grain and Oil Group and China Grain Reserves Group, or Sinograin, had transported cooking oils in the same tankers previously used for delivering liquid fuels produced from coal, the 12 July report said.

China should step up efforts to introduce mandatory standards for edible oil transport and stipulate dedicated vehicles for cooking oil, Liu Yanyan, a partner and lawyer at Shanghai law firm Grandall, was quoted as saying.

“ … (additionally) the country can learn from the United States in improving food recall processes and regulatory oversight, such as punitive compensation mechanisms,” Liu said.

Mandatory standards are essential guidelines for corporate compliance and government supervision in China, which currently has only one non-mandatory standard stipulating that bulk edible vegetable oils should be transported using dedicated tankers, according to the report.

Yang Xin, an assistant researcher at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the standard was not mandatory as China’s food transport industry chain was still in an early stage of development with free competition, including non-specialised transport fleets.

Due to the vast and complex nature of China’s food industry, Yang said the supervisory power of society, including associations, media and consumers, could be used to supervise the food safety sector.

China could learn from Europe by introducing incentives to encourage social forces to oversee the food sector, he added.

Amid rising safety concerns, leading local corn germ oil producer Xiwang Food was quoted as saying that bulk oil made up only a small portion of its business and specialised tanker trucks were used to transport this product.

Packaged corn seed oil – its main business – was transported in vans rather than tanker trucks, the company said, adding that it had strict regulations on edible oil transport.

One of China’s largest domestic edible oil manufacturers, Shandong Luhua Group, said the company had strict food risk prevention and control measures throughout the entire supply chain – including transport – and it used its own specialised tanker trucks for transporting edible oils.

Before loading any products, the interior and exterior walls of each tanker were thoroughly cleaned and dried and then inspected and individually sealed, the company added.

Oil products were also sampled and tested, with any failing to meet quality standards rejected.