The 2008 Olympic torch unveiling ceremony

With the 2008 Olympic Games starting in Beijing in 415 days, the Chinese government is on the offensive to show its commitment to food safety. The country has been bombarded by bad press recently, as the deaths of 100 people in Panama have been traced to drugs laced with a Chinese-made ingredient, and its pet food ingredients have poisoned dogs and cats in the U.S.

Last week, the government staged a press event to show off seized counterfeit food and drugs. Authorities also invited reporters to a food safety lab and discussed their efforts to find and test products for harmful ingredients, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Last month, China's top food and drug safety official was sentenced to death for taking bribes from drug companies and permitting substandard products to pass inspection.