Scandal of horsemeat

The scandal of horsemeat in food products labeled as beef has spread to 16 member states of the European Union. To dispel doubts about the EU's food safety standards, a one-month campaign of safety tests has been launched by the European Commission. However, European consumers' doubts will not disappear overnight despite these efforts, says an article in Workers' Daily. Excerpts:

It is not harmful to eat healthy horsemeat. What has angered European consumers is that their long-held confidence in the EU's food safety procedures has been crushed by the scandal, which has exposed loopholes in the EU's supposedly unbreakable food supply chain. It has become the most serious food safety crisis in Europe since the outbreak of mad cow disease in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

Suppliers, food manufacturers, supermarkets and governmental departments all seem to be shirking their responsibility and putting the blame on others. The investigations are still under way.

Although the EU has a common market, its member states have different levels of development and different legislation on food safety and supervision. The global financial crisis has further widened the gap between EU countries. Given loose monitoring and a lack of law enforcement, perhaps the final packers don't know whether the raw ingredients they pack are safe or not in many food products labeled "made in the EU".

Some analysis indicates the horsemeat scandal is a product of the recent economic crisis. Affected by the debt crisis, many Europeans have been hard hit by the debt crisis and hence there is an increasing demand for cheaper food. As a result, supermarkets have asked for a lower purchasing price from suppliers who also have to ask food manufacturers to lower the cost. Lawbreakers then seize the chance to make illegal profits.

Keeping up appearances

Many migrant workers pretend to be rich, buying suits and fake iPhones, so they can have a glorious homecoming during the Spring Festival, some even spend thousands of yuan during the festival. What's behind the seemingly ridiculous phenomenon is a deep social root, says an article in Yanzhao Evening News. Excerpts:

No matter whether it is to boost confidence, satisfy vanity, gain an advantage in social interactions, or just follow the crowd, such conspicuous consumption is the way young people win social recognition. Through such pretense, young people fulfill the expectations of relatives and friends .

But this "Chinese-style pretense" has evolved from individual choice to a collective preference and become a common behavioral characteristic of a certain group of young people. We need to see through the image they present and perceive their true living and development situation.

This group of young people were mainly born in the 1970s and the 1980s and are either facing huge pressure supporting a family of four parents and one child or are freshmen at work struggling for career development and survival. Driven by twisted values, such pretense has become the most direct and effective tool for them to gain social recognition.

But it is better to improve one's life and development in a more down-to-earth way than to pretend to be someone else. After all, made-up success and a fabricated image will not stand the test of both facts and time.

(China Daily 02/20/2013 page9)