Nearly 15 per cent of Chinese food products failed a recent quality check, the government said yesterday in a report that nonetheless sought to reassure rattled consumers that tainted products are disappearing from shelves. Beijing's latest counter-blast against worries over rancid, toxic and steroid-laden food and drink comes after another week of safety woes for the export giant.

Mattel Inc., the largest US toy company, recalled 18.2 million more Chinese-made toys due to hazards from small magnets and lead paint. Earlier this month, Mattel had recalled 1.5 million preschool toys made by a China-based contractor.

China said this week it would send officials to the US to discuss product safety following a spate of scares, including seafood tainted with antibiotics and toxic chemicals in toothpaste and animal food ingredients.

The 39-page paper from China's State Council Information Office - the government PR wing - sought to reassure rattled consumers with a welter of statistics and previously announced measures it said showed the country's food was safe and getting safer. An official nationwide inspection in the first half of 2007 found 85.1 per cent of food products met quality standards, compared with 77.9 per cent in last year's inspection.

"Through these efforts, the overall level of China's food quality is steadily rising," stated the paper. "China is still a developing country and the general level of food safety, including standards and industrialisation of production, still has a certain gap with developed countries." The 2007 inspection result may represent an improvement, but it also meant that 14.9 per cent of foods failed rules for labels, storage and contents.

In July, China said 19.1 percent of all goods that inspectors checked in the first half of this year failed quality standards.

Meanwhile many Chinese toy workers have lost their jobs following Mattel's global recall of toys, an industry body said yesterday, but insisted overall confidence in their products was high ahead of the key Christmas season. "The industry itself did not mean to produce poor-quality goods and paid a heavy price for its mistakes," it said.

"Most of the employees will have to leave factories they have been serving at for many years and are facing unemployment or reemployment problems. This has had a huge impact on the industry and society," May Liang, the industry's secretary general, said.

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