Chinese officials to visit Minnesota to observe food safety efforts

A group of government, industry and academic leaders from China will visit Minnesota this week as part of a trip designed to help them examine food safety efforts.

The 22 Chinese delegates will meet Wednesday with officials from the Minnesota departments of health and agriculture, as well as the state Board of Animal Health.

They'll also visit facilities at General Mills and Ecolab, a dairy farm in Buffalo, a dairy processing plant and a grocery store. On Friday, a roundtable discussion is planned with industry food safety leaders at Cargill headquarters in Wayzata.

The exchange is part of the Global Initiative for Food Systems Leadership, which receives expertise and financial support from many companies, the University of Minnesota and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

The delegation from China is wrapping up a two-week trip that also took them to Rome, Amsterdam and Washington, D.C.

Minnesota has shown leadership in the area of food safety in recent years, including during a few national food-borne illness outbreaks in which officials were able to help find the source of the illnesses.