Olympics: Mice Used in Beijing's Olympic Security Force

White mice will be dispatched alongside martial arts experts to the security frontline of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, China's state media reported yesterday, as the organisers fine-tuned plans to prevent biological or chemical attacks and mishaps during the games.

In the latest sign of the meticulous precautions being taken to ensure nobody spoils China's biggest party in more than a century, the rodents will be used to test the safety of food and drink before they are consumed by athletes.

About 10,000 competitors are expected in the capital in two years' time, along with more than 20,000 journalists and hundreds of thousands of spectators as China uses the Olympics to show it has moved from the chaos of the Mao and colonial eras to become one of the leading civilisations of the 21st century.

Food poisoning, whether deliberate or accidental, would be a big embarrassment so the organisers have decided to use mice as an early warning system.

"Milk, alcohol, salad, rice, oil, salt and seasonings will be tested by white mice 24 hours before they are used in cooking or served to athletes," Zhao Xinsheng, of the Beijing municipal health inspection bureau, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency. He told reporters that mice develop adverse reactions to poisoning within 17 hours, sooner than test methods like bacteria cultures.

To ensure the safety of the mostly western food that will be served to visiting athletes, provisions will be recorded as they arrive in the Olympic village. Storage areas and kitchens will be guarded and fitted with alarms and video cameras.

The mice will join a security operation that will include at least 20,000 regular police and what local media describe as a "crack force" of 150 specialists in counter-terrorism, riot control and techniques to prevent kidnapping.

Olympic organisers have denied reports that Beijing is planning to evict the city's 3 million migrant workers and round up thousands of prostitutes before the games, but recent dress rehearsals such as the China-Africa summit this month suggest there will be a temporary crackdown on pirate DVD hawkers, a closure of building sites and restrictions on cars.

Metereologists will be put on alert to monitor typhoons in Hong Kong and Tianjin, where equestrian and yachting competitions will take place, and local media say the government will seed clouds to precipitate rain before major events.