Some may not know, but famous supermarket American company Wal-Mart is expanding their efforts overseas and since having stores in China, Wal-Mart has to consider new food safety regulations to keep up their standards. After many food scares, Wal-Mart is deciding to increase their food safety spending.
After receiving news that fox meat was found in the packages labeled as “Five Spice” donkey meat in January at the Wal-Mart in China, the American company realised they need to be more aware of their Chinese counterpart. Previous food safety scares include the mislabeling of regular pork as organic in 2011 and the discovery of hazardous chemicals in sesame oil and squid in 2012.
After discussions, Wal-Mart is increasing their food safety spending to $48.2 million between 2013 and 2015. That is a difference $32.2 million since the previous spending period ($16 million total last period).
China has not got the best track record for fraud in the past years. In 2014, authorities arrested 900 for using fox, mink and rat meat as ‘mutton’. In 2008, 54,000 infants got sick and six died after drinking baby formula tainted with industrial chemicals. Another recent scandal involved rice tainted with cadmium, a cancer-causing heavy metal. Other food safety scares include rivers full of dead pigs and reports that one-fifth of China’s farmland is polluted.
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