Food security in China is a major public concern, especially after uproar caused by exposés of school canteen food scandals. But now, technology could make the entire cooking process more transparent to all.
Earlier this month, China's Ministry of Education encouraged kindergartens, schools and universities to install cameras in canteen kitchens for real-time supervision of food practices.
China News Service Photo
Schools in provinces like Hubei, Sichuan, Liaoning and Zhejiang have already made live-streaming footage of chefs at work available to diners or even to the public.
“As long as there is the Internet, I can learn what my son eats for lunch, how the food is cooked, and even where the food comes from, at any time, any place,” said Liu Qin, a resident in Chengdu, the capital city of China’s southwest Sichuan Province.
Screenshot from an app showing the interior of a kitchen at a school in Qingdao, a city in east China's Shandong Province
At the same time, food security supervision volunteers from the local community in Chengdu watch big screens at an information center, supervising the whole cooking process in six different schools in the district.
”My grandson will go to school as well. I am more assured when watching it (the cooking) myself,” said a volunteer named Wang Rong.
CFP Photo
According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, schools are a major source of mass food poisoning incidents in China.
But is live-streaming really going to tackle the problem? China News Service reported that student Liu Wei of Liaoning Communication University in northeast China, said few students look at the screens in their cafeterias.
“All the videos are shown on the same screen, so each area is very small. It is not very easy to watch them. Meanwhile, when the kitchen is preparing for meals, most students are having classes. So I don’t think it is an effective method.”
CFP Photo
On top of that, the broadcasts can encounter technical problems, such as blackouts, website incompatibility or system issues.
Professor Shen Kui with the Law School of Peking University has his reservations about making cameras a compulsory part of kitchens nationwide, saying “food security involves a series of procedures, such as purchasing, cooking, cleaning, sterilization, storage and so on. Not all critical procedures can be supervised by installing cameras.”
He also noted that food security standards for students should be different from adults: “nutrition should also be considered for students and teenagers as they are growing up. Poor nutrition is definitely not food security for young people.”
