China bans dog meat from Olympic restaurants

China has ordered dog meat to be taken off the menu at its 112 official Olympic restaurants in order to avoid offending foreign visitors.



Restaurant workers have been advised to patiently suggest other options to diners who order dog.



The state-run Xinhua news agency has reported that any restaurant found violating the ban would be black-listed.



Dog is known as fragrant meat in China and is eaten by some Chinese for purported medicinal properties.



The ban, issued by the Beijing Catering Trade Association, forbids all designated Olympic restaurants from offering dog and urges other food outlets to remove the meat from menus.