All restaurants in Guangdong's provincial capital may have to sign hygiene contracts to ensure the quality of their food.

The Guangzhou municipal government is considering the move to end unsanitary practices found in some local restaurants, which have affected the reputation of the city's delicious food.

Vice-Mayor Wang Xiaoling has promised to punish restaurants that break the contracts and serve food that fails to meet the State's hygiene requirements.

"The operatng licences of restaurants that have caused food poisoning will be scrapped and the bosses taken to court," Wang said.

She urged restaurants in Guangzhou to always buy quality ingredients through legal channels to ensure that their food meets the required standards.

Food in some restaurants was found to contain contaminated ingredients.

The cooking oil was also found to have been recycled.

The kitchens in some restaurants were found to be dirty and tableware was at times only washed with laundry detergent. Many restaurants had no sterilizing equipment.

Wang said the city will build several restaurant streets, food plazas, big-name restaurants and food companies that will provide quality cuisine to improve the city's image as a gourmet's paradise.

Guangzhou will be the first city in Guangdong to introduce such a contract system to help standardize restaurant operations.

Xiong Yuanda, deputy director of the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Public Health, has promised to expand restaurant inspections in the coming months and years.

Guangzhou has more than 30,000 restaurants, hotels and food companies.

(China Daily July 4, 2005)