Report Indicates Olympic Food Caterers Under 24-hour Inspection

Health inspectors are maintaining round-the-clock inspection at up to 148 food plants providing meals for the Beijing Olympic Games, state press said Thursday.

Some 148 food plants providing meals for the Beijing Olympic Games are under 24-hour inspection from health authorities, Chinese state press said Thursday.

The inspectors are monitoring the production process and sanitation, while also carefully checking product quality, the China Daily reported.

TV Celebrity Chefs Setting a Bad Example to Millions of Viewers
Viewers watch chefs serve up salads without washing the ingredients and often forget to wash their own hands says Layla Jader, a public health consultant from Wales.

"Our responsibility is to maintain a 24-hour vigil on production... I haven't been home for months," the paper quoted Liu Yinghong, an inspector at a surburban Beijing factory, as saying.

"No product can leave the factory without our ratification."

Earlier this year, China's quality watchdog pledged safe food for the Beijing Olympics, addressing concerns arising from a string of quality scandals over items produced in the country.

Botox Injections
Botox or Botulinum toxin A is widely employed in the cosmetic industry due to its anti-ageing properties.

"(We will) carry out strict inspection and quarantine of food items prior to and during the Olympic Games," Pu Changcheng, vice minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine, told journalists earlier this year.

"All the products must obtain a quality safety label before they are allowed to be delivered to the Olympic Games," he said.

Home Lab-on-a-chip Kit for Checking Illnesses, Food Contaminants
University of Michigan engineers are seeking to develop a lab-on-a-chip kit that people can assemble on their own.

Chinese-made products, ranging from seafood to car tyres to toys, were at the centre of a series of global safety scandals and recalls last year.

Beijing then launched a crackdown on shoddy products.

Hong Kong French School Struggles With Food Poisoning
Almost 125 people came down with food poisoning from suspect crepes at a Hong Kong French school's annual fair, school officials said on Monday.

Source-AFP
RAS/L