Food Safety and Scams Still Issues in China

China’s Food Safety Report reveals Pesticide Contamination, Food Additive as Major Concerns
China’s most recent government-led food safety report has revealed pesticide contamination, microbial contamination
and excessive food additive content as the major concerns.
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Food safety in China: Current issues and policy responses​

Despite the Chinese government's ongoing efforts to enhance food safety regulations, the growing occurrence of food safety scandals highlights the need for additional measures.

China has seen many food safety incidents. In 1988, in Shanghai, a hepatitis A outbreak occurred due to the consumption of raw clams leading to infection and hospitalisation of many people. Another incident was the Chinese milk scandal, in 2008, wherein the infant-milk formula and other foods got contaminated with melamine, affecting 300,000 children with kidney and urinary tract infections. This led to establishing the new People's Republic of China Food Safety Law which states in Article 19 that ‘Food safety standards are compulsory standards. No compulsory standards other than food safety standards shall be formulated for food products.’ Despite this, there have been multiple food safety scandals in the past two decades; the most recent one being the unsafe conditions at Wuhan’s animal market spreading the COVID-19 pandemic.

The reason for such a high number of food-related incidents remains the lack of monitoring and regulation by the government and the lack of ethics by food companies for profits...
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Scams are also a significant issue in PRC

Everyday Scams Still Affect Tourists and Locals​

Travellers continue to report common street‑level scams — tea scams, fake art students, overcharging,
and more — especially in major cities. Even experienced travellers often fall for these within hours of
arrival.

They even operate outside China
Multiple Australian news outlets have confirmed a “spiritual blessing scam” that targeted elderly members of the Chinese and broader Asian communities across NSW, Queensland, and Victoria. Police estimate the total losses at more than $3 million.

This is not a single scammer but a fly‑in, fly‑out criminal group operating from China and entering Australia for short stints to run the fraud. The group involved in that scam is believed to be from China, according to Australian police.