China beefs up e-food rules

From the scores of apps that deliver farm-fresh fruits to homes to the virtual supermarkets where just a few clicks can organize a week's worth of groceries, Chinese citizens are spoilt for choice with the massive boom in food-related e-commerce products and services. And as online sales are no longer categorized as a restricted industry under the Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue (Amended in 2015), a considerable amount of foreign investment has poured into this new and popular business.

Food safety alone has always been an issue under much scrutiny even before the internet brought its own regulatory challenges. Public concerns have stemmed from a number of incidents involving food labeling and packaging, chemical additives and hygiene over the years, such as the tragic 2008 infant formula/milk scandal, which the World Health Organization referred to as one of the largest food safety events it had to deal with and as a crisis of confidence among the Chinese people that would be difficult to overcome. Multinational companies have been dealt reputational blows as well—a local supplier to fast food chains including McDonald's, Starbucks, Yum Brands and Burger King was prosecuted after a video of its factory using discarded and rotten meat went viral in 2014.

Chinese consumers' increasing awareness of, and evolving standards for, food-related products have caused substantial changes in both the commercial and legal landscape of the sector, as industry players and regulators have stepped up in response.