Abstract: At present， the procuratorial organ will confront obstacles when applying the powerful weapon of punitive compensation in the public welfare litigation in the field of food safety due to the lack of the normative element of “the procuratorial organ has the right to claim no less than that of the social public welfare organization”， and there is also a unclear theoretical definition and distinction of the functions of “punishment” and “compensation”. In order to give full play to the function of punitive damages， we should adhere to the separation of the “compensation” function and the “punishment” function in the future public interest litigation legislation， and give the procuratorial organ the right to request punitive damages based on the “punishment” function， and design reasonable specific systems for the procuratorial organ to institute punitive damages for public interest litigation.

Key words: procuratorial organ, food safety, compensatory punishment, public interest litigation, public interest prosecution