BEIJING — China has urged schools to involve parents in monitoring the food served on campus, reaffirming the country’s commitment to protecting the health of its younger generation.

Parent monitoring committees should be established to ensure the right of parents to supervise the tendering and purchasing of food, school principals eating the same food as students, assessment of the quality of food, food safety controls and transparency of spending and income, according to a ministry. of Education.

School principals are the first to be held responsible for campus food security and the management of related funds, the document states. Schools should appoint food safety managers, with a dedicated food safety director required for cafeterias serving more than 500 people, it adds.

Schools must conduct a food safety and satisfaction assessment with teachers, students and parents separately each semester, and provide feedback on the results, according to the document.

Last month, parents accused a private middle school in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan province, of serving stale meat to its students. An official investigation found that the pork in question was of substandard quality due to improper transportation and storage.

As the public becomes more health conscious, food safety is increasingly a red line in society. For example, in response to the Kunming incident, an investigation was opened on the same day, the results of which were made public three days later.

Most notably, authorities have launched a province-wide campaign to identify and address potential food safety issues on campuses.

Law enforcement has also been strengthened. Prosecutors said Wednesday they brought more than 24,000 related cases against 41,000 people to court between 2019 and 2023.

China has 1,610 national food safety standards, evaluating 340 food categories with 20,000 parameters. There are also more than 100 regional standards.

China is prioritizing public health, with food safety at the top of its standards agenda, Tian Jianxin, head of food standards, supervision and evaluation at the National Food Commission, said earlier this month. health.