IN A NEWS CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, the Ministry of Public Security said that police nationwide have so far prevented more than 140 tons of pork or pork products carrying African swine virus from entering the market and detained 90 criminal suspects in 32 criminal cases. Beijing News comments:

Despite the government's close oversight, the virus entered Northeast China's Liaoning province in August, and it has since spread to 28 out of the country's 34 provincial-level regions.

Although the virus is killed in cooking, it can live for decades in frozen pork. The food safety, agricultural and market regulation departments have no reason to look on with folded arms when the virus enters the humans' food chain. Which has regretfully happened, as frozen meat balls, sausages and dumplings produced by a handful of big-name food companies have been found containing the virus in many places.

Although the spread of the virus has been disclosed in a timely manner, it is noteworthy the authorities had not taken the initiative to disclose the situation in the food market to the public until several anonymous photos were circulated on social media last month. These photos show some internal documents belonging to quarantine departments in Gansu and Hunan provinces instructing local food safety watchdogs to conduct further investigations as the virus was discovered in some of the meat products of at least 13 brands in the two provinces.

Not long before, the authorities had just comforted the people saying that all pork and pork products available in the market were free of the virus.

Calling on consumers to have confidence in pork products before the virus is eliminated from the market is putting the cart before the horse.

Although the virus does not spread to humans, the authorities should understand consumers' concerns. Instead of just telling people the virus is harmless, the authorities need to crack down on sales of pigs and pork products carrying the virus, and ensure animal inspection and quarantine station staff do their duty instead of using the power in their hands to seek personal gain.