In order to standardize the use and management of rapid food testing (hereinafter referred to as "rapid food testing") methods and to give full play to the role of rapid food testing in food safety supervision, the State Food and Drug Administration recently issued the "Opinions of the State Food and Drug Administration on Standardizing the Use and Management of Rapid Food Testing Methods (Food and Drug Administration [2017] No. 49)", which gave relevant opinions on the meaning, detection objects, and scope of application of rapid food testing.
The opinion mentioned: Food rapid testing is mainly suitable for qualitative testing of banned or restricted pesticides and veterinary drugs, banned drugs in feed and animal drinking water, illegal additives, biological toxins, etc. that need to display results in a short time. The testing is mainly aimed at edible agricultural products, bulk foods, catering foods, and foods prepared and sold on-site. In principle, routine laboratory testing is mainly used for pre-packaged foods.

In addition, the opinion also clearly points out that rapid food testing cannot replace food testing activities conducted by food testing agencies using conventional laboratory instruments and equipment, and cannot be used for food sampling testing deployed in food safety supervision. Rapid testing methods shall not be used for re-inspection.

The details are as follows:

1. Food rapid testing refers to the act of conducting rapid qualitative testing of food (including edible agricultural products) for certain specific substances or indicators using rapid testing facilities and equipment (including rapid testing vehicles, rooms, instruments, boxes, etc.) in accordance with the rapid testing methods prescribed by the State Food and Drug Administration or other relevant departments of the State Council.

2. Food rapid testing is mainly suitable for qualitative testing of banned or restricted pesticides and veterinary drugs, banned drugs in feed and animal drinking water, illegal additives, biological toxins, etc. that need to display results in a short time. The testing is mainly aimed at edible agricultural products, bulk foods, catering foods, and foods prepared and sold on site. In principle, routine laboratory testing is mainly used for pre-packaged foods.

3. Food and drug regulatory authorities may use rapid testing methods to conduct spot checks and tests according to actual conditions during on-site inspections for daily supervision, special rectification, and activity support. Regulatory personnel shall strictly follow the requirements for the use of rapid testing methods and record in detail the type and name of the food tested, quantity, test items, test date, test method, name of the tester, test results, and the manufacturer of the rapid test product used, product model and batch number, etc. Food and drug regulatory authorities and regulatory personnel are responsible for the results of the rapid test items of the tested food.

4. If the on-site rapid test results are positive, the edible agricultural product operators under inspection shall suspend the sale of related products, and the food and drug regulatory authorities shall promptly follow up with supervision and inspection and sampling inspection to prevent and control risks. If the edible agricultural product operators under inspection have no objection to the rapid test results, the food and drug regulatory authorities shall deal with them in accordance with the law; if they have objections to the rapid test results, they may apply for re-inspection within four hours from the time they receive or should receive the test results. Rapid testing methods shall not be used for re-inspection.

5. Food and drug regulatory departments of provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities), municipalities with independent planning status, and sub-provincial capital cities shall evaluate the rapid test products currently in use and to be purchased through blind sample testing, parallel laboratory testing, etc. in accordance with the "Technical Specifications for Evaluation of Rapid Food Test Methods" and the corresponding rapid test methods formulated and issued by the State Food and Drug Administration. If the evaluation results show that they do not meet the relevant national requirements, they shall be stopped from use immediately or shall not be purchased.

6. Rapid food testing cannot replace the food inspection activities conducted by food inspection agencies using conventional laboratory instruments and equipment, and cannot be used for food sampling inspections deployed in food safety supervision work.

7. Provincial (autonomous region, municipality) food and drug regulatory departments may, according to the needs of food safety supervision, organize professional and technical institutions to conduct evaluations on food rapid testing methods that are not prescribed by the state. If the evaluation results meet the relevant requirements, they may be used for preliminary screening in food safety supervision by food and drug regulatory departments at all levels in the province (autonomous region, municipality).