Using science to protect the safety of the tip of the tongue

At the national agricultural product quality and safety supervision meeting on January 22, 2015, Jiang Jincheng, Su Qingyun and Liu Ying from the grass-roots agricultural products inspection station received the "National May 1 Labor Medal" from the all-China Federation of Trade unions. The other three inspectors, Xu Jing, Lu Yanfen and Xie Liqian, also from the grass-roots level, received medals and certificates from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Affairs as "national technical experts". They are the winners of the second National Agricultural products quality Inspection Technology Competition.

Behind Jiang Jincheng and Xu Jing are 35000 quality and safety inspectors on the quality and safety inspection front of agricultural products. "the quality and safety inspection of agricultural products is an important technical means to implement the supervision of the quality and safety of agricultural products. Holding competitions and awarding such heavyweight awards to the winners is to improve the ability and level of grass-roots testing technicians as soon as possible, and to stimulate and mobilize the broad masses of grass-roots testing technicians to study professional theory and study technology assiduously." Zeng Qing, director of the Monitoring Department of the Agricultural products quality and Safety Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, said: "the quality and safety inspection of agricultural products must be checked, quickly, and well, so that the inspection and testing system invested by the state can really play a role."

"the testing of agricultural products is the closest line of defense to the safety of the table."

Today, when the safety of the tip of the tongue is highly valued, only the scientific analysis of these professional instruments, equipment and testing personnel can give the food on our table an authoritative identification. Their excellent skills are all fought in the battle to safeguard food safety.

Between white coats, rubber gloves, hundreds of thousands of experimental instruments and chemical solvents of various colors, and the slight collision of transparent test tubes, items of data related to the safety of the tip of the tongue are revealed one by one-- "the tests carried out in the process of testing the quality and safety of agricultural products are probably the closest line of defense to the safety of our tongue." Jiang Jincheng, from the quality and Safety testing Center of Agricultural products in Yongchuan District, Chongqing, knows his work in this way.

Jiang Jincheng, a Chinese major from Chongqing Institute of Technology, was originally a "pen" of the Yongchuan District Agriculture Bureau. Now, walking into his study, "Advanced Organic Chemistry", "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry" and thousands of sets of national and industry testing standards for the quality and safety of agricultural products have become his main reading list.

From the pipette can not be used, to now the first place in the national detection technology competition for quantitative detection of pesticide residues in planting products, Jiang Jincheng's excellent technology is fought in a "tough battle." In the first national survey of soil pollution sources, which lasted three years, Jiang Jincheng and his colleagues went down to take soil samples from paddy fields without calves, and each soil sample had to analyze dozens of elements. Monthly routine monitoring of agricultural products, a total of more than 200 samples to test 56 kinds of agricultural residue indicators. The overall safety of vegetables in nine districts and counties in western Chongqing is clearly reflected in the various indicators of 100,000 items listed in the inspection.

Liu Ying, from Qingdao Fisheries Environmental Monitoring and Aquatic products quality testing Center, won the first place in the quantitative detection of drug residues in aquatic products in the competition. "when others do experiments, the happiest thing is what to detect." When we do the test, the happiest thing is that we can't detect anything. "

"the production of each sample costs about 1500 yuan, which requires us to do our best to control the size of each sample and the strength of homogenization. In recent years, drug residues, such as nitrofuran antibiotics and malachite green, which once exceeded the standard, are almost hidden. The leader is sometimes anxious with us, why can't we detect an unqualified sample for so long? Are you not working hard? In fact, with the improvement of the level of supervision and testing in recent years, the safety of aquatic products has definitely improved. Our experiments closest to the table are the most telling. " Liu Ying said.

"Food safety, popular science is very important."

Consumers need popular science to build a correct understanding of food and restore confidence in our agricultural supply system. Growers need science popularization more. How to choose biological pesticides with low toxicity and high efficiency, how to ensure the interval of pesticide application, not only reduce planting costs, but also ensure product quality, are the necessary qualities of high-efficiency ecological agricultural producers.

Liu Ying told reporters that every summer, a large number of aquatic products are listed. A large number of samples enter the testing center from vegetable markets, supermarkets, and breeding farms, and each sample has to go through procedures such as sand removal, smashing, sample preparation, purification, extraction, concentration, fixed volume, computer, and so on. Through the "eye" of various precision instruments such as chromatograph, mass spectrometer, and so on, scientific data are obtained through technical analysis. Whether the drug residue of a sample meets the standard or not requires a 24-hour uninterrupted procedure to complete. The safety detection indexes of ordinary aquatic products reach dozens of types, including nitrofurans, quinolones, xanthamine residues and so on.

Liu Ying told reporters that there are some posts on the Internet that sea cucumber culture will add a large number of antibiotics. in fact, the ponds for artificially cultured sea cucumbers are very large, and if they put antibiotics at a concentration that can play a role, the losses will outweigh the gain. In order to prevent the epidemic disease of sea cucumbers, most farmers in Qingdao adopt the way of balancing colonies of microorganisms. "including some rumors of using contraceptive to raise crabs, there is no scientific basis. Even in terms of cost and benefit, farmers will not adopt these methods. "consumers need a lot of popular science to build confidence in food."

"not only consumers need science popularization, but farmers also need science popularization." Su Qingyun, who won the first place in the quantitative detection of veterinary drug residues in livestock and poultry products in the skill competition, although he is a post-80s generation, has been working on the front of agricultural product quality inspection for 13 years.

"rational use of drugs is a course that every grower should take." In order to achieve the reverse effect of testing and supervision on the production quality of agricultural products, Su Qingyun and his colleagues go out of the laboratory for several months every year to teach farmers and cooperative members how to use drugs scientifically and grow reasonably.

Cowpea is a kind of vegetable which is easy to form agricultural residues and has a large planting area in Guangdong. "the reason why cowpea is easy to exceed the standard of agricultural residues is related to its biological characteristics of continuous concentration and maturity on the market. Therefore, to do a good job in advance prevention, the use of low-toxic pesticides is the key. As long as farmers learn to use drugs scientifically, they can avoid the occurrence of 'poisonous cowpea'. " Su Qingyun said.

"Professional and technical personnel are too important to the inspection and testing system."

Agricultural products quality and safety inspection stations are mostly subordinate institutions of the local agricultural sector, the establishment is limited, the treatment is general, occasionally highly educated professionals, often can not stay. On the one hand, it is the "continuous rotation" of the staff in the system, and on the other hand, it is difficult for professionals with the same skills to enter.

As a "veteran" on the testing front, Lu Yanfen won the title of "national technical expert" in this skill competition, which is the second time she has participated in the competition on behalf of Hunan Province.

Lu Yanfen has the stubbornness and harshness of professional and technical personnel. In a 2012 detection of malachite green residues in aquatic products, the standard curve made by a colleague showed a slight deviation, which had little impact on the test results. When she learned of this, she immediately asked to postpone the issuance of the test report and lead the technical team to conduct a comprehensive investigation and traceability. After analyzing more than 10 possible factors, it was finally found that the deviation was caused by contamination of the container that transferred the standard solution.

In order to recruit several professionals to the testing center, since 2009, Lu Yanfen has gone to local agricultural universities every year, strictly investigated and patiently persuaded, and finally introduced several excellent master's degree graduates who specialize in the center.

"if it's brought in, you have to keep it." Lu Yanfen told reporters that the work of testing the quality and safety of agricultural products often deals with dirty livestock and poultry barns, diseased animals, and toxic and harmful reagents on the test-bed, and the testers laugh as the "old three." "if you can't grow up enough, which young man is willing to stay in this position for a long time?"

Xu Jing, who majored in agricultural resources and environment, can be regarded as a student in the testing team. For her who has persisted in the safety inspection station of Zhungeer Banner in Inner Mongolia Autonomous region for a long time, it is a great encouragement for her to win the title of national technical expert in the skill competition. "years of obscurity and boring repetition of rigorous experiments are extremely challenging for most people. This skills competition gives us a platform to show our skills, and it really has a sense of professional honor. "

Xie Liliang, from the Institute of Animal Health Supervision in Kunming, Yunnan Province, has a column that is popular with farmers and consumers on the Kunming Agricultural Information Network. It is called "Xie Shi Shuo Animal Inspection." From the clinical symptoms of porcine blue ear disease to the effect of heat treatment on the quality of milk products, the popular science she has done with the educational background of animal genetics and breeding in Yunnan Agricultural University is interesting and professional, and is quite authoritative and persuasive among consumers. "the entry of more and more outstanding professionals into this team is the basis for the inspection and testing system of agricultural products to really play a role. Over the years, the state has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in technical training for testing teams, and we are all beneficiaries. It is hoped that more young people with professional skills can join this team and make the firewall of food safety stronger. "