The citywide examination covers a wide range of food establishments, from supermarkets and restaurants, to tourist sites such as temples that are frequently visited during the festival.

Guo Jiyong, vice-director of the Beijing Health Bureau, said: "The Spring Festival is a traditional period for family reunions during which people usually buy a lot of food and have dinner with relatives and acquaintances. Food safety thus arouses more concern among the public."

Although overall food safety has greatly improved and incidents of food poisoning have been effectively curbed since last year, food scares involving agricultural chemical residue and growth hormones in animal feed still spark widespread complaints, said Guo.

Only 79 per cent of bean products, 83 per cent of meat, and 89 per cent of vegetables in Beijing's food venues met hygiene standards, according to the bureau.

Greed for exorbitant profits has driven some people to use toxic and other harmful materials in the production, circulation, processing, storage, transportation or selling of food.

Pesticides are often used excessively during planting, not only killing pests but also polluting agricultural products, which threatens consumers' health.

"The food spot checks will focus on goods in great demand during the festival, such as cooked meat, cakes, bean products, cooking oil, milk and drinks," said Guo.

"Inspectors will clear out all the inferior foodstuffs from the shelves and recover those that have been sold. The health bureau will publish a list of inferior products in good time."

The hygiene of restaurants is also a top item for examination. Restaurants with health hazards will be ordered to suspend business or have their business licence revoked, said Guo.

Deng Ying, an official with the bureau's Health Supervision Office, said people can report complaints by phoning (010) 6500-7266.

The official said the city put a lot of effort into food safety checks last year.

(China Daily January 9, 2003)