For the first time, food safety would be used to gauge the performance of the local government during the annual assessment, reported Xinhua.net.
A database of food safety records of food firms will be established and those on the black list will be disclosed and punished. While authorities will take up steps to prevent expired food products from returning to the market, consumers will be rewarded in cash for reporting illegal acts.
China has been struggling to control food safety violations, especially in the milk industry.
Since the beginning of 2012, authorities detected 15,000 cases of substandard food and shut down 5,700 unlicensed businesses during their inspections on food businesses across the country, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
