Online shopping platforms and regulatory authorities need to "run in both directions"

With the rapid development of the Internet economy represented by e-commerce platforms and new retail, various kinds of homemade food such as folk traditional handmade snacks and blogger's secret private kitchen dishes are promoted and sold on Moments, QQ groups, Weibo, and short video platforms.

For small workshops, "help" should be the main focus, and "management" should be supplemented.

In recent years, especially after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, people have become more and more inclined to online shopping.

Zhu Yi, an associate professor at the School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, said that in recent years, there has been a saying in the society that "online food purchases become disputed food".

Some people blame the frequent occurrence of online food shopping problems because some online food operators do not have relevant qualifications, and online platforms do not carry out strict supervision

As for whether online food operators need relevant qualifications, it depends on the type of food they sell

Zhu Yi believes that the current small workshop-style production can solve the employment and income problems of a large number of families; but from the perspective of food safety, it is difficult to control the quality of the production of small family workshops in large quantities

Food safety supervision, online and offline must be synchronized

According to media surveys, many consumers can only understand the characteristics of products through pictures or texts on web pages when shopping online

Liu Jinrui said that the country has already regulated the issue of incorrect versions of goods at the legislative level

Liu Jinrui said that in the early stage of development, in order to survive in the fierce competition, online platforms often paid more attention to the scale effect and ignored the requirements of merchants' compliance, which led to the chaos of food safety problems

Zhu Yi said that online platforms need to establish and improve management systems in accordance with the law, including collecting and identifying legally required information, establishing mechanisms such as dispute mediation and consumer rights protection, timely reporting illegal information to regulatory authorities, and cooperating with law enforcement inspections

Consumers should keep "3 minds" when shopping online

Experts said that consumers should pay more attention to three aspects when buying online food

　　First, pay attention to the way of purchase, and the certificate is more secure

　　When purchasing online home-made food, you should choose an online trading platform with formal qualifications and a large scale, choose a reputable seller, pay attention to the evaluation of other consumers, and pay more attention to the "additional evaluation" with a long time span; On the homepage, check whether the seller has publicized the photo of the business license and food business license

　　The second is to change the concept of consumption and be cautious about advertising

　　The third is to enhance legal awareness and safeguard legitimate rights and interests

　　If the online food trading third-party platform provider cannot provide the real name, address and valid contact information of the online food business operator, the online food trading third-party platform provider shall compensate
.
If a third-party platform provider for online food trading makes a promise that is more beneficial to consumers, it shall fulfill its promise
.

　　Therefore, in the event of a consumer dispute, consumers should take the initiative to protect their legitimate rights and interests, and can first negotiate with the operator to resolve it.
If a settlement cannot be reached, they can call the hotline to complain to the market supervision department
.

(Comprehensive arrangement by Wang Ning)

"China Food News" (May 09, 2022 03 edition)

　　(Editor-in-charge: Wang Ning)