In the recent public interest litigation filed by the procuratorate in safeguarding the safety of food and medicine, the focus was to apply for punitive damages. Although the trial court usually satisfies the procuratorates claimsin practice, there are still many problems to be solved such as insufficient legal ground, inconsistent standards in calculating punitive damage, similar cases with different results, and the unreasonable administration of the fund. In order to improve the application of punitive damages in public interest litigation, it is necessary to entitle the plaintiff of public interest litigation to apply for punitive damages, standardize the baseline to calculate punitive damages and fund administration, and stipulate the prescriptive right to seek punitive damages in public interest litigation.