Many in the public remain skeptical about the government’s ability to cope with a massive school cafeteria food poisoning outbreak two weeks ago that affected nearly 2,000. Several civic groups and parents’ organizations have called the Health & Welfare minister and the head of Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) inept, officials of KFDA and Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) irresponsible, and have said that CJ Food System, the distributor blamed for the outbreak, is only interested in profit.
The contaminated food was found to contain the Norwalk virus. However, this virus is not included in current government health regulations regarding food poisoning. When a few legislators pointed this out at the Health & Welfare Committee, Health & Welfare Minister Rhyu Si-min and KFDA head Moon Chang-jin said, "Because there is no way to detect the Norwalk virus in foods, it is useless to include the virus in the food code."
This is a gutsy statement to make, as the Norwalk virus has been behind the illness of over 3,000 students in the past four years. If the health authorities have not yet established a way to examine the cause of such a serious microbe, those in charge of national health are derelict in their duties. However, it appears Mr. Moon’s statement stemmed from a lack of coordination between the KFDA and the KCDC. The KCDC was the agency that confirmed the presence of the Norwalk virus, through examination of patients’ stool samples. It also already knows how to detect the virus in food. The KCDC is also examining underground water supplies for the virus.
Moreover, the KCDC issued a warning about the danger of food contamination by the Norwalk virus several years ago. This means that the Norwalk virus was designated as an infectious disease to be put under surveillance, which is possible only when standard methods to detect the virus have been established. Minister Rhyu and KFDA head Moon must either be ignorant, or they believe that they could deceive the public.
Mr. Rhyu and Mr. Moon suggested setting up a food safety-related agency or a program in which the students’ parents monitor the school lunches, but these cannot fundamentally solve the problem. If irresponsible bureaucrats are appointed to the positions, they cannot manage and supervise the school meals properly. Moreover, the parents will not be able to detect or monitor the invisible virus.
Therefore, what we need right now is to establish a system to watch giant enterprises like CJ Food System closely, firms which neglect social responsibility, as well as bureaucrats who are only concerned in keeping their jobs rather than doing them well. For this end, the authorities should reveal the truth behind this incident by employing the use of independent experts. Then measures to prevent a recurrence of a similar disaster will be possible.
[News Analysis] Food poisoning investigation does not inspire confidence |
