Faking It: Food Quality In China

This article begins by examining the power of milk as a symbol of modernity par excellence. Scholars have noted how milk came to occupy this position in the West.2 In China, the dairy industry has experienced a dramatic expansion due to government support and investment as well as an influx of fo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ross, Kaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press) 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.usm.my/40553/1/KazRoss-FakingItFoodQualityinChina.pdf
http://eprints.usm.my/40553/
http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/KazRoss-FakingItFoodQualityinChina.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.usm.eprints.40553
record_format eprints
spelling my.usm.eprints.40553 http://eprints.usm.my/40553/ Faking It: Food Quality In China Ross, Kaz P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General) This article begins by examining the power of milk as a symbol of modernity par excellence. Scholars have noted how milk came to occupy this position in the West.2 In China, the dairy industry has experienced a dramatic expansion due to government support and investment as well as an influx of foreign companies since the late 1980s. During this process, milk has taken its place as a symbolic marker of a modern, scientific and urbanised Chinese life. The melamine milk scandal of 2008, however, disturbs and unsettles these images of modernity in a number of key ways. The scandal revealed deep structural and regulatory problems with what had been declared one of China's safest model industries only months before the adulteration problem was revealed.3 Most troublingly, similar issues can be found in food and medicine production across China. Indeed, fake food and fake medicine, along with poisonous air and water, rank as major concerns for Chinese citizens. This article shows how this concern extends beyond China's borders through the global supply chain. Mass deaths in other countries have resulted from poor quality Chinese food products. Meanwhile, Chinese government attempts at increasing regulation and quality standards appear to be inadequate for dealing with this ubiquitous problem. This article proposes that an exploration of how "quality" (suzhi) is understood in China is necessary for understanding the underpinning of Chinese regulatory efforts as well for making sense of the discussion in China on why these efforts are failing Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press) 2012 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.usm.my/40553/1/KazRoss-FakingItFoodQualityinChina.pdf Ross, Kaz (2012) Faking It: Food Quality In China. International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 8 (2). pp. 34-54. ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243 http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/KazRoss-FakingItFoodQualityinChina.pdf
institution Universiti Sains Malaysia
building Hamzah Sendut Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Sains Malaysia
content_source USM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.usm.my/
language English
topic P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
spellingShingle P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
Ross, Kaz
Faking It: Food Quality In China
description This article begins by examining the power of milk as a symbol of modernity par excellence. Scholars have noted how milk came to occupy this position in the West.2 In China, the dairy industry has experienced a dramatic expansion due to government support and investment as well as an influx of foreign companies since the late 1980s. During this process, milk has taken its place as a symbolic marker of a modern, scientific and urbanised Chinese life. The melamine milk scandal of 2008, however, disturbs and unsettles these images of modernity in a number of key ways. The scandal revealed deep structural and regulatory problems with what had been declared one of China's safest model industries only months before the adulteration problem was revealed.3 Most troublingly, similar issues can be found in food and medicine production across China. Indeed, fake food and fake medicine, along with poisonous air and water, rank as major concerns for Chinese citizens. This article shows how this concern extends beyond China's borders through the global supply chain. Mass deaths in other countries have resulted from poor quality Chinese food products. Meanwhile, Chinese government attempts at increasing regulation and quality standards appear to be inadequate for dealing with this ubiquitous problem. This article proposes that an exploration of how "quality" (suzhi) is understood in China is necessary for understanding the underpinning of Chinese regulatory efforts as well for making sense of the discussion in China on why these efforts are failing
format Article
author Ross, Kaz
author_facet Ross, Kaz
author_sort Ross, Kaz
title Faking It: Food Quality In China
title_short Faking It: Food Quality In China
title_full Faking It: Food Quality In China
title_fullStr Faking It: Food Quality In China
title_full_unstemmed Faking It: Food Quality In China
title_sort faking it: food quality in china
publisher Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press)
publishDate 2012
url http://eprints.usm.my/40553/1/KazRoss-FakingItFoodQualityinChina.pdf
http://eprints.usm.my/40553/
http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/KazRoss-FakingItFoodQualityinChina.pdf
_version_ 1643709975584833536
score 13.144533