Twenty years of cold chain

The safeguard mechanism has been given importance and, after continuous enrichment and improvement, has incorporated a raw material registration system, a food sample retention system, and implemented a responsibility system, a credit system, and so on.

Late one April night, Hu Shutong sat in his office, sometimes typing on the keyboard, sometimes writing something on a piece of paper. This was his third consecutive night of hard work. Compared to the last report, Tongxing's second-round qualification plan had almost no room for modification. Faced with such a new test, Hu Shutong had no choice but to start all over again.

It was a complex task to avoid being verbose while still being eye-catching, with over a dozen items to consider. However, these safeguards gave Hu Shutong more confidence that Tongxing was capable of doing a better job, which was far more convincing than a mere company profile-like qualification report.

Hu Shutong devoted a great deal of time and energy to this. When he was really tired, he would open an email. The email was empty, but it contained a pen drawing sent by his teacher. In the center of the picture was an old-fashioned train belching thick smoke, with the tracks stretching towards him. To the left of the train were rice paddies, and beyond that, a city receded into the distance. To the right were sand dunes with several cacti standing on them.

Each time Hu Shutong read it, he seemed to glean some new meaning, but in the end, he couldn't figure out what the teacher was trying to express. In any case, since he received this email, things about the Olympic Games gradually became clearer.

At the end of the month, a nationwide special campaign to rectify food safety issues was fully launched.

This rectification campaign is not only aimed at addressing market irregularities, but also based on the implementation of food safety management system certification. It establishes application procedures and certification systems, and comprehensively incorporates them into the safety management system.

Zeng Zhaoda had given advice on this matter before the Lunar New Year, and Hu Shutong had also sensed that such a development was coming. Tongxing was well prepared for this. Although Tongxing is confident that it can withstand any test, in the face of a special rectification campaign, the park, as a representative enterprise in Qingbei, should still take some action to further strengthen safe production.

Therefore, as early as the beginning of the year, Hu Shutong proposed the exemplary "Safe Production Month" initiative. Hu Shutong has also given instructions on the various arrangements and coordination for this rectification campaign. At this point, securing the supply of Olympic materials has reached a critical juncture, and he cannot afford to be distracted.

But on that very night, just as the second round of reports was about to be completed, a loud knocking on the door made Hu Shutong anxious.

A moment later, Su Mu rushed in, phone in hand. "President Hu, something's happened! Look at this!"

It was a mobile news report fresh out of print after midnight. Hu Shutong was completely frozen in place after glancing at the headline!

"Multiple counties in northern Qinghai have reported cases of the highly toxic pesticide methamidophos, and a special working group for food safety has intervened."

Looking at the text again, Hu Shutong's eyes gradually turned into a sharp triangle. How could this be!

"Following numerous reports, the pesticide methamidophos is still being widely used in various counties of northern Qinghai, including Pingqiu, Qingxiu, and Xudian counties in the north of the city, and as far north as Mozi and Mengtang counties. The food safety rectification task force has received these reports and has now established a special task force to conduct comprehensive sampling inspections of the entire fruit and vegetable production area in northern Qinghai, while simultaneously investigating illegal enterprises producing methamidophos pesticides..."

Hu Shutong gripped the phone tightly and looked at it more than a dozen times. As early as 2004, our country launched a reduction of five highly toxic pesticides, including methamidophos, and completely banned their use on crops on New Year's Day 2007.

Because of its broad insecticidal range, rapid action, and low cost, some unscrupulous companies are indeed still producing methamidophos pesticides. However, even if this were possible in Qingbei, it would be impossible for such large-scale application to be reported simultaneously by multiple counties. Tongxing's HACCP system prioritizes pesticide control as its first line of defense. Over the years, they have only detected a few cases of excessive use of usable pesticides, and have never detected highly toxic pesticides like methamidophos or parathion!

Faced with this situation, Su Mu was utterly horrified. The sources of Tongxing vegetables were quite diverse. If methamidophos was present in every county, Tongxing would become the focus of a thorough investigation! If the investigation were to trace back to the source, Tongxing would become the starting point! From the surface to the specific, with a complex web of connections, if every batch were traced, Tongxing, which was already under intense scrutiny, would almost come to a standstill.

But this whole thing is strange. The last time there was a methamidophos incident, Tongxing was busy with bulldozers and excavators. This time, without any warning, it suddenly started spreading like wildfire, covering all of Tongxing's vegetable production areas. What kind of simultaneous whistleblowing happens in the world? It's more like a time bomb that's been ticking away for a long time!

But Su Mu dared not say anything at this moment, for he had never seen Hu Shutong so profound and unfathomable.

He sat in the chair, hands on his head, his gaze fixed on the ground, remaining silent for a long, long time. Su Mu would have preferred him to become more agitated, to shout and yell, but in an instant he realized that this was different from usual.

Unlike the tainted meat from Pingcheng Mountain or the ractopamine-tainted pork from pig farms, where Tongxing was merely an advisor offering solutions and could remain unscathed even as a bystander, this time it was a matter of vital importance, a real threat that would condemn Tongxing to slander and even bury its name if it didn't fight back!

What's most disheartening is this very moment. People have been working tirelessly through the night, welcoming spring with willow branches, and everyone is praying for the best. But with the release of methamidophos, who knows how much hard work has been wasted? Even if things ultimately go smoothly, it's destined to be excluded from Olympic supplies.

After a long silence, Hu Shutong finally raised his head. On one side of the table was the final second-round report, and on the other was the methamidophos from Tongxing, which he was confident he could control. The pen drawing was still lit up on the computer screen, depicting rice paddies and a city on one side, and sand dunes and cacti on the other.

"Uncle Su, gather everyone together, let's have a night meeting."

"Hey, everyone'll be there soon."

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.