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BEIJING: All athletes will be prohibited from taking their own food
into the Beijing Olympic Games Village in order to ensure food
safety, Olympic officials said on Thursday.
Outlining food safety rules for the Games, Kang
Yi, catering chief of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee,
said the rule complied with standard international practice.
“Foods are banned mainly out of safety
concerns, and beverages are not allowed in the Olympic Village to
protect sponsors’ rights,” she said.
Xiang Ping, deputy director of the games
services department, said: “Athletes were not allowed to bring
their own prepared food to the athletes village at past Games, but
medicines are complicated and will be treated differently.
“Athletes who have long taken certain kinds of
medicines should first report the medicines via the designated
personnel of their respective countries and then might be able to
take the medicines to Beijing,” said Xiang.
The comments were made in response to questions
at a press conference about reports that the U.S. delegation would
set up a training camp outside the Olympic Games Village where the
athletes could prepare their own food.
“We have made thorough preparations for the
Games, hoping that all the athletes could dine and be happy together
during the Beijing Olympic Games. I will be very sorry if the
American delegation are not at these gatherings,” said Kang, who
said that her section had not received any formal notice informing
him about the American delegation’s plan.
Xiang said that she had received no formal
notification of the plan either and added that it was unnecessary
for foreign teams to bring their own food.
“There is no need to bring prepared food on
the part of athletes as there is a great variety of food to meet
everybody’s needs at the athletes’ village,” said Xiang.
Tang Yunhua, spokeswoman of the Municipal Office
for Food Safety, said standards for the Games were stringent,
sometimes even higher than standard international practices.
“Beijing has worked out careful plans
concerning the guarantee of food safety during the Olympic Games,”
she said.
“Beijing has established a comprehensive food
safety control mechanism that covers the whole process from
production to the table so we can make sure Olympic food is entirely
safe,” she said.
“We have been doing our utmost to take the
customs and tastes of all competing athletes into consideration in
supply of raw materials,” said Tang.
“The city authority has also worked out strict
measures to guarantee food safety,” she said.
“Delegations from all countries should feel at
ease eating the food we serve at the Olympic Village,” said Tang.
Lu Yong, director of the Beijing Municipal Food
Safety Monitoring Center, dispelled fears concerning drug-tainted
meat supplies. Fears had been expressed that antibiotics and growth
stimulants used by breeders to boost yields could cause positive
doping tests among athletes.
There was no evidence that was the case,
according to Lu.
“At present, globally, there have been no
scientific reports that show drug tests will yield positive results
after athletes or people eat certain types of meat,” said Lu.
“China has very strict rules. Forbidden drugs cannot be used in
breeding, so we can guarantee safety.”
-- Xinhua
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