China province says most mineral water tainted

BEIJING (Reuters) - Think Beijing has food safety worries ahead of the 2008 Olympics? In southern Guangdong, barely little more than a third of bottled water tested is up to scratch.

For cooking oil in the province which borders Hong Kong, the rate was slightly better -- 42 percent, the Nanfang Daily said, citing the results of a survey from Guangdong's commerce bureau.

The main reason for the poor water quality -- high levels of bacteria, the report said. Only 36 percent of samples tested were satisfactory. Samples were taken from 111 water cooler shops in eight cities across the province.

But authors appeared to defend the results by citing an unnamed official as saying that most the water tested was made by smaller brands, which dragged overall standards down.

The problem with the cooking oil was that high prices were forcing some companies to substitute peanuts for other kinds of ingredients, but were still calling the product peanut oil.

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

But the government has hit back, saying the problems of a few small, rogue companies should not besmirch the whole made-in-China label, insisting it does take effective action to guarantee safety.