Application of content analysis in food safety reports on the Internet in China

This paper discusses the application of the content analysis method in the analysis of food safety reports. Several subjects, such as food chain, food category, violative testing Items, hazard of violative food samples and data in food safety reports from April 1st to June 1st 2009, were investigated. Based on the research, 50% of food safety reports selected came from the food distribution stage, 32% of the food safety reports mentioned one or several food additives. Among the selected reports, “beverages”, “cereals and cereal products”, and “salts, spices, soups, sauces, salads and protein products” are the top three (3) food groups mentioned. Only 20% of food safety reports contained the treatment information about violative food samples, while 8% contained a description about the potential hazard. Over 50% of the food safety reports were described with the types of violative food samples and Violation Rate.