Beijing recently unveiled its first five-year plan for improving food and drug safety, following international anxiety sparked by exports of adulterated ingredients used in pet food and toothpaste. Officials of the State Council for regulation of food and pharmaceuticals in recent days have highlighted the implication of imperfect and partial inspection systems, lagging guidelines and unmanageable food producers and refer it as severe safety problem. Li Changjiang, head of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, was quoted saying that food safety in this regard is not just an issue of law enforcement, but most important for the health and safety of the people, which portray the nation’s image. Even bilateral and multilateral political relationships depend on the same. Responsible and quality supervisors in the hierarchy must step up efforts to ensure food safety. Singapore banned the sale of three brands of Chinese-made toothpaste containing a poisonous chemical, diethylene glycol. Latin American countries followed the same after a warning from US regulators that toothpaste containing the chemical could be detrimental. Even pet food including additives from China actually contaminated with industrial chemical melamine was responsible for poisoning thousands of cats and dogs in the US. For years, worries about tainted food and drug products have been widespread in China, and Wen Jiabao, the premier, promised tougher action against such nuisances. To catch this admonishing trend of contaminated food that has decried the image of the country in the world, the release by the State Council, or cabinet, of the first five-year plan addressing food and drug safety is intended to focus on improving and more strictly implementing supervision of the two industries. The guidelines of the report call for the creation of systems to supervise food exports that might transmit disease and for residues of drugs in agricultural products and livestock shipments, and also ‘electronic monitoring’ of food processing business. Those found guilty would be blacklisted. A target of an increased surveillance of pharmaceuticals is set from the current 30% to 80 per cent. A change is already on the reckoning in the country. With the sentence to death to Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of China’s State Food and Drug Administration, for taking bribes from companies to avoid approval procedures and for approving fake medicines, things seem to be heading in the right direction for the country.