The government will specify the limit of various ingredients in foods such as dairy products, infant food, alcohol, meat, vegetable oil, seasoning, health products and food additives.
It will also establish standards for testing various food additives, contaminants, microorganisms, pesticide and animal drug residue in food.
About 14 government departments, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture, will coordinate to complete upgrading the existing standards by 2015.
Currently, several food safety regulations overlap or contradict each other as several government agencies were given the task of developing food standards.
Food safety concerns have been increasing in China after several incidents involving food contamination and the illegal use of contaminants and additives in foods.
Recently, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial, a leading dairy company in China, initiated the recall of its infant formula products after the government's quality watchdog found high levels of mercury in some of its products.
