Encourage the use of safe and harmless packaging for food delivery.

Recently, the National Medical Products Administration issued the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Safety in Online Catering Services" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), introducing a number of new regulations on online food ordering. In particular, the Measures emphasize that online catering service providers must have physical stores and obtain food business licenses in accordance with the law. Addressing public concerns about contamination from takeout food containers, the new Measures also specifically encourage third-party platform providers of online catering services to offer biodegradable food containers, tableware, and packaging materials. It is reported that the aforementioned new Measures will take effect from January 1, 2018.

Online food ordering has now become an integral part of people’s daily lives. According to a recent report released by the third-party research firm iResearch, in the second quarter of this year, the overall transaction volume of China’s internet-based food delivery market reached 45.95 billion yuan, representing an 81.8% year-on-year increase.

However, as the online food industry has experienced a “surge,” online food delivery services have increasingly exposed numerous safety issues. Consequently, the trend toward tighter regulatory oversight has become increasingly evident.

According to the “Survey on Online Food Delivery Service Experience” released by CCA last year, the main issues with offline delivery services and food quality include: occasional presence of foreign objects in orders that do not meet hygiene and safety standards; lax admission reviews on certain platforms, leading to the registration of unqualified online merchants and the operation of unlicensed businesses offline; and packaging damage and food leakage in some meals. The situation...

According to data from the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), this year the pass rate for sampled inspections of takeaway food in Shanghai was 89.5%, lower than the overall pass rate of 97.7% for various food safety risk monitoring activities conducted in Shanghai during the same period.

Recently, the National Medical Products Administration issued the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Safety in Online Catering Services," introducing several new regulations for online food ordering.

Among these, regarding the source of safe food delivery—the kitchen—the “Measures” clearly stipulate the principle of “consistency between online and offline operations.” Specifically, catering service providers entering the online platform must have a physical storefront and obtain a food business license in accordance with the law. They must conduct their business activities strictly in line with the primary business and operational items specified on their food business license and may not exceed the scope of their licensed operations.

The quality of raw materials, processing methods, and the cleanliness of production facilities are all explicitly required. Operators must process food in their own processing areas and may not outsource orders to other food operators for processing. Otherwise, they could face a maximum fine of 30,000 yuan.

The reporter learned that, at the source of food safety in the catering industry, Guangdong’s Food and Drug Administration has long been implementing the “Bright Kitchen” initiative to enhance the quality and safety of our province’s catering sector. According to the plan, the provincial Food and Drug Administration will incorporate the construction of “Bright Kitchen Equipment” into its performance evaluation indicators, with a goal of achieving full coverage of “Bright Kitchen Equipment” across all catering service establishments in the province within three years.

The reporter found that the new measures also clearly specify requirements for delivery personnel and the delivery process: Delivery personnel must maintain personal hygiene, use safe and harmless delivery containers, and ensure that the food delivery process remains free from contamination. Food delivery companies must strengthen training and management of their delivery staff. For foods that have special requirements regarding freshness, heat retention, refrigeration, or freezing, companies must take appropriate measures to guarantee the safe storage and handling of delivered food.