Beijing MBA student Chen Qiaoling created a feeling of disbelief, even laughter, in her peers and parents when she announced in 2012 that she wanted to help solve the country's food safety problem.
But she found motivation in herself as she, together with another 20 fellow students, researched news reports, laws and regulations, and talked to restaurant owners and produce vendors.
"We knew we could not provide a once-and-for-all solution to the problem. But if we could do a little of something on a daily basis, we might be able to make a difference," said Chen.
The result of their three-year endeavor is a book published in March - China's Compiled Food Safety Incidents - a compilation of food safety incidents that have taken place in China in recent years. They also founded Yueyaduo, a food safety research center at Tsinghua University.
They are now trying to set up industry standards for the food industry.
"The prime motive for food alteration lies in economic reasons. If we can ensure that the business owners can obtain bigger economic returns through the application of higher industry standards, then nobody will risk alteration," she said.
"Many workers in the industry do not even have the awareness that they need to regularly trim their nails or wash their hands," she said.
Meanwhile, through a survey of more than 100 consumers, they have also found a stunning lack of food safety knowledge among the public.
"Some say safe food is merely organic food, some say it is those that have not been applied with pesticides or fertilizers, and others say it is those without food additives," she said.
Chen's organization is merely one of the many nongovernmental groups in China dedicated to the research of food safety and popularization of food safety knowledge.
Food safety concerns across the country have given rise to mounting food activism as volunteers try to alert the public to health risks lurking at supermarkets and restaurant tables with their own research and publicity campaigns.
In 2012, Wu Heng, who was then a graduate student in Shanghai, established an online food scandal database - Throw It Out the Window - to warn the consumers with news reports about food dangers.
Four food activists in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, have established Woodpecker Food Safety Center to advocate food safety knowledge.
Sun Huanping, a former vendor in Huaian, Jiangsu province, became a food activist early in 2004 after he discovered all the tricks that vendors at agricultural produce markets use to appeal to customers.
"Bean sprouts could be sprayed with bleaching agents to appear fresher, meatballs can be made from essence and starch and they taste even better those made with real meat, ginger smoked with sulfur would be much more comfortable to the eye," said the 46-year-old who now runs a steamed bun restaurant.
"The better-looking the materials are, the more chances that they have been tempered with additives. I always prefer ones that look less pretty," he said.
Sun underwent huge pressure from family and friends after he decided to tour around the country to advocate food safety knowledge among the public.
Driving a cargo truck, Sun went to residential communities, commercial streets and schools in more than 70 cities in 28 provincial areas in 2009. The journey cost him all his family's savings. He spent another two years organizing food safety lessons for residents in his hometown in 2010 and 2011.
Despite all his efforts, Sun said food safety remained a big problem in his hometown, and consumers were still unaware of the risks involved with products.
"Most consumers still prefer the better-looking products in the market, and that has driven the vendors to temper with the products to cater to them," he said.
