BEIJING - The State Council, China's cabinet, on Tuesday pinpointed major tasks for government authorities to improve food safety this year.

The State Council said in a circular posted on its website that although the general food safety situation in China has improved over the past year, the country needs to intensify efforts in the area, as food safety incidents still occur occasionally.

The government will conduct inspections and overhauls on major food safety hazards in the process of planting, breeding, slaughtering and product circulation, as well as in the catering sector.

It will also intensify the crackdown on food-related violations, boost the emergency response mechanism for food safety incidents and release related information to the public in a timely manner, the circular said.

Key tasks for this year also include improving the supervision mechanism and food-related standards, laws and regulations, according to the circular.

The country has been hit by a string of food safety scandals in recent years, particularly in 2008, when melamine-tainted baby formula caused the deaths of at least six infants and sickened 300,000 others.