Beijing has set up an expert panel on food security for the 2008 Olympics amid efforts to ensure a safe and smooth sports gala.

 

The panel, jointly established by the Beijing Municipal Bureau for Industry and Commerce and the Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics, is composed of 15 food experts from both home and abroad, Zhang Zhikuan, director of the Beijing bureau, has said.

 

The panel is mulling over establishing a criteria system, a testing system and a monitoring system for the food security of Olympics and making preparations in terms of personnel, technology, equipment and mechanism, said Zhang in a meeting earlier this week with Zhou Bohua, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

 

The panel has so far determined security criteria for 345 kinds of Olympics food in 10 categories, which have been included in a monitoring database established lately, Zhang said.

 

It has also drawn up a draft list of 30 doping drugs to be closely monitored during the Olympics period as well as their allowed volumes in Olympics food, he said.

 

The bureau has already built a 1,200 square meter laboratory to carry out relevant food tests, he said.

 

The authorities have also worked out a plan to put production and processing sites of Olympics food under close watch, he added.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2006)