SHANGHAI - SHANGHAI authorities are planning citywide inspections of farm products after shoppers complained about finding beef saturated with water in a local market, an official said on Tuesday.

The investigation highlights China's struggle to enforce higher food safety standards following a string of scandals over substandard and tainted foods and medicines.

The widespread practice of injecting water into meat increases its weight, enabling sellers to earn more money, but it also raises the likelihood of spoilage or contamination with chemicals or industrial waste.

'To ensure consumers' health and rights, we will work with the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration to set up regular inspections of all farm products in wholesale markets,' said an official in the public affairs department of the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administration, Mr Weng Yuwen.

Mr Weng said inspectors confiscated 5kg of waterlogged beef from the city's Southwest Agricultural Trade Market after a shopper complained about buying what turned out to be a suspiciously soggy rump steak.

But they believe more of the doctored meat is still in the market.

Much of the suspect beef came from suppliers in Jiashan, a city in neighbouring Zhejiang province, local newspaper reports said.

Last week, a delegate to a top government advisory body proposed a new monitoring system for the meat industry, citing waterlogged meat as a long-standing health hazard.

China is the world's third-largest beef market, with production over 7 million tons a year, according to a report for market research firm Research and Markets by Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant.

Very little of the meat is handled by modern slaughterhouses, with most produced from farms and small slaughtering operations that often do not meat minimal requirements for hygiene and safety. -- AP