Explore multiple places! Delivery riders hired as "food safety supervisors" by regulatory authorities | supervisors | food safety
Recently, the Market Supervision Bureau of Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province held an appointment and business training meeting for "food safety supervisors for delivery riders". The first batch of 100 delivery riders were appointed as "food safety supervisors", and they will assist the market supervision department in strengthening food safety supervision of third-party online catering service platforms and the delivery industry.
At present, food safety in takeout is an unavoidable topic, and the phenomenon of dirty, messy and poor kitchen in takeout shops is a common "flaw" among many consumers. Consumers often cannot see the real environment of food delivery merchants and can only obtain relevant information from the information provided by the merchants, consumer evaluations, and other aspects. Even if there are suspicions of food safety issues, there is often no way to provide evidence. Without the constraints of public supervision, businesses can rely solely on self-awareness and conscience.
In this context, hiring delivery drivers as "food safety supervisors" is a very practical and precise measure. Delivery riders are flexible individuals who have point-to-point contact with merchants, making it relatively easier to see their environment and hygiene conditions. Previously, a food safety case in Hangzhou, Zhejiang was reported voluntarily by a delivery man.
In fact, in addition to Haizhu District in Guangzhou, many places such as Shenyang in Liaoning and Wuxi in Jiangsu have explored the appointment of food delivery riders as "food safety supervisors". This is a governance innovation and a clever trick to ensure the safety of food delivery. For food safety regulatory authorities, having a whistleblower greatly increases the likelihood of discovering food safety hazards in the first place; For food delivery merchants, the role of delivery staff as supervisors can create a sense of intimidation and coercion. For consumers, "safety on the tip of the tongue" also adds an extra guarantee.
Of course, safeguarding the safety of food delivery cannot rely solely on delivery riders, but also requires proper supervision and self-discipline from businesses. On the one hand, relevant functional departments should actively fulfill their responsibilities, not only to strictly supervise and inspect the entire chain of food delivery merchants, both online and offline, but also to impose strict penalties on merchants with food safety hazards and strictly guard the food safety defense line. On the other hand, food delivery merchants should understand self-discipline, prioritize legal principles, and effectively carry out hygiene work in the kitchen to ensure that every takeaway food is clean and worry free.
More governance innovations similar to food delivery riders serving as "food safety supervisors" will form a greater synergy between social supervision, industry self-discipline, and law enforcement deterrence, and the safety level of food delivery and catering will be further improved. I hope this measure can be learned and referenced by more places.