BEIJING - Restaurants that deliberately add inedible ingredients into their food and drinks will face severe punishments, including prosecution, China's food watchdog said Friday.

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Other punishments for these restaurants could include revoking of operating licenses and confiscation of contaminated food and earnings from sales of such food, Bian Zhenjia, deputy director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), said at a national conference on regulating illegal food additives.

He noted that it is a top priority of the SFDA to regulate the use of illegal food additives and monitor the abuse of food additives in this year's food-safety related work.

Restaurants that are found to use unregistered food additives or abuse food additives would be blacklisted, he said, vowing stepped-up law-enforcement.

The SFDA had earlier ordered all restaurants to pledge not to use illegal food additives or add ingredients that are harmful to human health. On Wednesday, it announced an inspection tour to check the implementation of the order.