The Chinese government on Tuesday said that it has set up a
rigorous food tracking and monitoring system for the 2008 Beijing
Olympics and food safety for the games was fully guaranteed.
"All the procedures involving Olympic food, including
production, processing, packaging, storing and transporting, will
be closely monitored," said Sun Wenxu, an official with the State
Administration for Industry and Commerce.
The information would be incorporated into a database, which
would enable food supervisors to be fully aware of all the
procedures and trace the sources in case of any incidents, Sun
said.
Experts estimate that more than 75,000 liters of milk, 330 tons
of fruit and vegetables, 82 tons of seafood, 750 liters of ketchup,
131 tons of meat, 21 tons of cheese and three million bottles of
beverages will be consumed by athletes, coaches, officials and
journalists during the Beijing Olympics.
Sun said in order to ensure such an amount of food was served
"safely", Beijing had detailed a series of technical standards,
covering the packaging, storing and transporting criteria of 345
foods.
The government has come under great pressure to improve food
safety following a series of controversies caused by substandard
food, ranging from drug-tainted fish to banned Sudan dye used to
color egg yolks red.
To allay rising public dissatisfaction, the government had laid
out a five-year plan to tighten the supervision of food and drug
products and promised to "significantly reduce the number of
incidents caused by substandard food or drug products" by 2010.
Earlier reports said Beijing has set up an expert panel on food
security for the 2008 Olympics, which included seven Chinese and
eight foreign experts.
The panel, jointly established by the Beijing Municipal Bureau
for Industry and Commerce and the Organizing Committee for the 2008
Olympics, has been mulling the criteria, testing and monitoring
systems for food security for the Olympics.
The panel has also drawn up a draft list of 30
performance-enhancing drugs to be closely monitored as well as
their allowable volumes in Olympics food.
Chinese cuisine, which will make its debut on the Olympic menu
in 2008, is expected to account for 30 percent of the Olympic
food.
"Chinese cuisine is famous for its rich ingredients and delicate
condiments, but the more ingredients the food contains, the more
risks it might have," said Cai Tongyi, an expert with the food
safety panel.
Cai, a nutrition professor with the China Agricultural
University, said after careful selection, the panel has recommended
1,000 Chinese dishes to the International Olympic Committee. "We
are waiting for the approval of IOC."
(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2007)