China's Ministry of Education Tuesday ordered schools to enhance food safety management and stressed accountability in the case of food poisoning incidents.

The ministry said in a circular on its website schools and kindergartens must intensify disinfection work against hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) and acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC).

"Kindergartens should often clean toys and other objects children touch," the circular said.

Schools should enforce food safety management in canteens and disinfect water facilities while strengthening food safety education, it added.

The circular stressed that officials in schools where food poisoning occurs due to dereliction of duty will be "seriously dealt with."

The circular comes after a number of food poisoning cases and cases of AHC, HFMD, cholera, bacillary dysentery and dengue fever reported in several regions.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2010)