英闻天下——354 Beijing to Restrict Online Food Sales

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　　Food items will be placed in three different categories: pre-packaged foods, bulk foods, and dairy products.

 

　　Food retailers¹ without a storefront will be banned from selling bulk foods and dairy products.

 

　　On Taobao.com, China's massive online shopping site, more than 17,000 items are sold under the "bulk foods" category, including sweets, biscuits, crispy rice, chocolates and nuts.

 

　　Wang Zhanying, an official from the food department of the administration says:

 

　　"Bulk food sold in online shops has to go through many delivery and packing and sub-packing processes. Since they don't have a real shop, it's hard to ensure hygiene² and safety."

 

　　And for dairy products, the official says:

 

　　"Online purchases of milk powder are risky³ and can get out of control. It is especially hard to trace online purchases of overseas infant formula products."

 

　　Bloggers reactions:

 

　　1. Indifference⁴ to the new regulation

 

　　"Forget about all these regulations — we need better implementation⁵."

 

　　"Local laws and regulations like these cannot possibly limit online sales of milk powder."

 

　　2. Prefer unlicensed stores to the licensed⁶ ones

 

　　"The online shop where I purchase a certain brand of cheese has a good record, so I doesn't worry about the quality at all."

 

　　"They are cutting our purchasing channels again. Does it matter if the food retailers has or has not a shopfront? I believe the tainted⁷ milk was mostly bought in supermarkets."

 

　　3. Purchase online because of the greater variety of products that can be found and cheaper prices

 

　　"Although there are abundant and various types of foods available in supermarkets, the number of imported food and regional specialties⁸ is limited and sometimes the prices are high. I like to purchase food online because it allows me to buy food without geographical⁹ limitation and enables me to enjoy the best prices."

 

　　A friend of mine said she spends about 4,000 yuan every year on online food shopping, mostly to buy specialties, for instance, United States-imported avocados, some certain brand of cheese, neither of which are commonly seen in the capital city's supermarkets.

 

　　There is no figure to show exactly how many people buy food online annually¹⁰. But the figure from Taobao.com, one of the largest online platforms, suggests more than 10 percent of the population in Shanghai bought snacks online in 2011, the highest proportion among different provincial¹¹ regions in China. The total population of Shanghai is around 300 million.

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