Shanghai Whistleblower Law Inspections Lead to Confiscations and Criminal Cases

The Shanghai Daily reports that, in the first quarter of this year, whistleblowers, who provided tips and information on food safety cases, received rewards of 52,600 yuan (US$7,687) for reporting 50 violations of food safety laws and regulations.

In order to encourage whistleblowers, the city issued a regulation, effective since February 2016, to reward citizens for reporting and providing clues of food safety issues.

With 256,000 business units involved in food production and sales in Shanghai, food supervision authorities have overseen and conducted more than 105,000 inspections on business units; investigated and treated 1,697 violations of food safety laws; confiscated a total of 14.34 million yuan; and recorded a 97.3% pass rate in the risk surveillance of major foods, the publication reports.

Additionally, 54 cases of food safety violations were deemed criminal and transferred to the justice system. Police cracked 87 criminal cases about food safety, and 170 suspects were apprehended. One mass food poisoning case was reported in the first quarter, injuring 46 people without death. So far, no serious food safety incidents were reported.

Read the full story at Shanghai Daily.