More than 270 food producers in Beijing have pledged to ensure food safety with less than a year till the 2008 Olympics, Zhou Yiqiu, deputy chairman of Beijing Food Association, said on Tuesday.

Commitments to the undertaking have been made by well-known manufacturers, including Beijing Sanyuan Foods Company Ltd, the Beijing unit of Kraft Foods Greater China, Beijing Huiyuan Beverage and Food Group, and Beijing Zhangyiyuan Tea Co., Ltd, said Zhou at a food safety seminar held in Beijing.

Food safety was of the highest concern to Kraft around the world and in China, said Mark Clause, president of Kraft Foods (China). He urged the sharing of experience and cooperation among all food producers in Beijing on quality control.

Beijing had been gradually improving its food safety record year by year, said He Jiantao, an official with Beijing Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision at the seminar, citing official figures.

About 89.7 percent of the city's food sampled in the process of production was up to standard in 2006, up from 81.1 percent in 2004 and 84.7 percent in 2005, said He.

A survey done by Beijing's quality watchdog in the first half also indicated that more than 95 percent of the food in the market was qualified.

The pledge campaign was initiated by the Beijing Food Association as part of the drive to ensure food safety during the Games.

Beijing has set up a special committee to oversee food safety for the Olympics, and drafted safety standards for food supplied to the Games.

In the meantime, an elaborate monitoring system will be applied to help inspect the whole process of food production, processing and transportation to make sure healthy food is delivered to the Olympic Village next year.

There are 1,279 food processors in Beijing, with a recorded output worth 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) in 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2007)