Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee Implements Sweeping Reforms in Food Security; Mexico Now Questioned

Column by Steven V. Selthoffer, Senior European Columnist

SHANGHAI, China, April 25. CCTV China's state run television network and other media organizations have aired a number of stories in the past three weeks about clenbuterol and other banned substances surfacing once again in the nutritional food supply chain in China as first reported in Swimming World here previously.

On April 06, 2011, Xinhua News reported, Who Can Guarantee China's Pork is Safe? confirming the risks of clenbuterol contamination throughout China in new reports.

Previously, on March 23, 2011, concerns re-emerged when 158 pigs from nine farms tested positive for clenbuterol contamination as reported by Jessica Jiang, Time.com, China: Tainted Pork Renews Food Safety Fears. "This is the latest episode in a long series of food safety scandals and has renewed fears." Then other reports of food contamination surfaced across Asia.

FINA is scheduled to hold the 14th World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai, CHN, July 16- 31, 2011.

The Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee Announces Sweeping Reforms
Mr. Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, is the Director for the Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee. Mr. Duan Shijie, Vice Director, General Administration of Sport for China, and Ms. Zhao Wen, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, are Executive Directors of the Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee.

Mr. Zheng and his team have announced sweeping reforms across the entire spectrum of food safety and law enforcement measures in regards to the nutritional food supply chain issues on the front burner currently boiling over.

The Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee issued a press release April 16th, stating, "The Chinese government, the Shanghai government, will attend to the people's concerns and enforce the laws and regulations of food safety, and tighten food safety supervision according to international standards in order to ensure the food safety for the athletes and spectators of this competition."

It was also reported that the "officials… have held many meetings recently with related experts to discuss the details for supervising food safety."

The high priority and swift response by Mr. Zheng to the crisis and the effort to develop and implement a top-level executive plan and to assemble a pool of world-class experts is to be commended.

The Time.com article also stated, "Chen Junshi, a professor specializing in nutrition and food safety at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the clenbuterol-tainted pork from Henan might well be the tip of the iceberg. ‘Given the sheer number of pig farmers located all over the country, each one of them operating on a relatively small scale, I think the use of clenbuterol is virtually inevitable,' …the same also holds true for many other food safety crises as well."

To his credit, Zheng and his team have acknowledged the problems.

To counter these threats Zheng has announced the formation of the first Food Safety Department to be set up inside the Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee structure, "in order to coordinate the work concerning food safety and to take effective measures to ensure food safety for athletes and spectators present." That is a good move.

Zheng will find no lack of good will and assistance to help him make it a success. Such a bold initiative deserves recognition and is earning the respect of the national federations, media and anti-doping experts.

A Chinese Proverb Clarifies the Issue
A well-known Chinese proverb states, "in every problem there is an opportunity." The proverb couldn't be more apt, and the situation couldn't be more clear.

The FINA Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee has said they will tighten food safety supervision according to international practices. That is good and that is to be commended, but, the Chinese have the opportunity to be even better.

They can raise the bar and set a new global standard for sport organizational committee performance by declaring and guaranteeing, (with verifiable testing), that the athletes' training tables are 100 percent safe.

World Championships are all about setting records. Now the Chinese have the opportunity to set a new record and to establish the best training table and food safety standards the world has ever seen throughout the entire competition.

The Shanghai 2011 Organizing Committee can establish and develop a new model for FINA World Championships, drafting the athlete training table and food safety guidelines blue print to be used and passed on in a Knowledge Management Transfer Program to other World Championship Organizing Committees. Currently, there isn't one. And in future World Championships around the globe, guaranteeing food safety will be a top priority and nutritional food supply chain issues will continue to be an ever increasing threat on the radar screen.

The Chinese now have the opportunity to show the world how training tables should be set up, how procurement of food and supplies should be carried out, and how verifiable testing and quality controls should be implemented and measured. Not just to international standards, but, to exceed them, setting a new record of quality control and procurement measures to ensure the food safety for the athletes, "from farm to fork," now and in the future. With less than a year and a half to go before the London 2012 Olympics, with approximately 70 percent to 80 percent of the athletes in Shanghai also attending the London Olympic Games, food security is an event they can't afford loose. There is no second place.

The new initiatives and measures by the Chinese government, the Shanghai government and the FINA Shanghai Organizing Committee should be applauded.

The athletes don't want a law enforcement crackdown. They want the development and implementation of a world-class, food safety security plan, carried out with precision, verifiable testing, teamwork, intelligence, and in a spirit of cooperation and excellence that will make all of China proud.

The five new measures for reform and food security are substantial. They deserve recognition for taking responsibility, acknowledging the problems, drafting a top level executive plan, and acting swiftly to implement it.

They placed the welfare of the athletes first. Hopefully, they will demonstrate that it will be the best training tables and World Championships the world has ever seen.

So, as the FINA World Championships kick off, let's enjoy the moment and watch the records fall- in and out of the pool.

Additionally, Pan-American Games host Mexico has denied there is high clenbuterol content in its beef that could increase the risk of unintentional doping.

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