Food Safety Working Group
Food safety has been a focus of public, media, government and academic attention in recent years. In addition to food adulteration, which tends to dominate media reporting, food safety encompasses a wide range of problems that occur at different points in the chain from the production to the consumption of food. The risks involved vary widely from product to product and present very different kinds and levels of threat to human health from sources including bacteria, viruses and parasites, chemicals, heavy metals, growth hormones and veterinary drugs. In some cases, risks derive from the environment in which food is grown or produced, while in other cases production techniques and inputs, dynamics of complex food supply chains, and rapidly changing markets create risks.
Ensuring safe food production and supply is a challenging governance problem, and one that must be managed in an environment of rapid change, urbanization and industrialization. The range and complexity of food safety problems, and the complex interdependencies of causal factors, make interdisciplinary approaches extremely important.
Since 2012, FORHEAD has built a network of researchers, academics and professionals whose work deals with food safety and stimulated dialogue and collaboration between disciplines and organisations.
Related Publications
FORHEAD REPORT, Food Safety in China: Problems, Drivers and Policies
Food Security, Urbanization and Rural Transformations: the view from China
Special Issue of the Journal of Resources and Ecology
Food Safety in China: Policy and Case Studies (In Chinese)
Current work
FORHEAD has now broadened its approach from food safety to consider interactions between food security, food safety and nutrition. We also launched a new working group on the role of the pork industry. Researchers with backgrounds in the natural, medical and social sciences are currently exploring the ways in which the production and consumption of pork affects rural livelihoods, the natural environment and public health. For more information about the Pig Working Group, see here (in Chinese).
Working group members
CHEN Nengchang, Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environment and Soil Sciences
HOLDAWAY, Jennifer, Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
FANG Jing, Kunming Medical University
HU Dinghuan, Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
HUANG Jikun, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences
HUSAIN, Lewis, University of Duisburg-Essen (formerly SSRC)
JIA Xiangping, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences
JIN Shuqin, Research Center for Rural Economy, Ministry of Agriculture
LI Xiaowei, FORHEAD
LIU Peng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University
LU Jixia, College of Humanities and Development, China Agricultural University
MA Ji, College of Economic & Management, China Agricultural University
MEI Xurong, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
PENG Chao, Research Center for Rural Economy, Ministry of Agriculture
SU Shipeng, School of Public Administration, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
SUN Juanjuan, Governance of Food Safety, Collaborative Innovation Center, Renmen University of China
WANG Wuyi, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
WANG Xianxia, Institute of Rural Development, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences
WANG Xu, Governance of Food Safety, Collaborative Innovation Center, Renmen University of China
XIAO Gexin, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment
ZHANG Lei, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China
ZHANG Yunxi, Institute of Rural Development, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences
查看本页的中文版,点击这里.