China will launch a nationwide crackdown and propaganda offensive to fight public alarm about unsafe food, the government announced yesterday, as the Olympic Games one-year countdown focused attention on the problem. The government cabinet, or State Council, had decided to ?launch a quality improvement campaign focused on food safety?, said Zhou Baihua, director of the General Administration for Industry and Commerce, according to the government Web site (www.gov.cn). Zhou promised a public relations campaign to accompany the crackdown. ?Wage a battle to guide opinion,? he told officials. ?Comprehensively strengthen opinion and information work.? Zhou?s comments were the latest in a torrent of official statements seeking to cool anxiety among both domestic and foreign consumers about the safety of Chinese food and products.

A range of Chinese exports, from fish and toys to pet food and toothpaste, has been found to be mislabelled, unsafe or dangerously contaminated, creating an international backlash.