Pingyao has its eye on beef quality

The county of Pingyao, Shanxi province, did a thorough check of its meat industry, on Oct 17, with help from the Food and Drug Administration, Public Security Bureau, and local village governments, checking 599 farms, and discovering 24 beef processors and 58 individuals unqualified.

This action was intended to protect the public interest and the county's beef industry with the focus on the source of production and ways to reward the good and punish the bad enterprises. In the process, the county food and drug administration spoke with 20 processors, four of which were told to suspend business and fix their problems.

The county wants to set a good example with qualified companies and force the improvement of individual meat processors and has spent more than 3.2 million yuan ($520,000) so far. After a serious inspection, it penalized improper and illegal operators. Athe the same time, the Pingyao Guanyun Beef Group has begun using a traceability system with a two-dimension code, to track the entire meat process and 11 other enterprises have purchased similar equipment and will begin using the system, with the idea of eventually getting every enterprise in the beef industry to follow suit.