Chinese officials accustomed to the tame questions of a compliant state press were caught out by a plucky 11-year-old reporter during the country's sensitive Communist Party congress.

Sun Luyuan, a Beijing sixth-grade student, on Friday shook up one of the tightly-controlled party meetings on the congress's sidelines with a question that put officials on the spot over China's miserable food-safety record.

Noting that a steady stream of scandals and health scares involving tainted or unsafe food products had particularly affected students, leaving many sickened in various incidents, Sun asked why China can't clean up its act.

"I love snacks, but I don't dare to eat snacks now because we see so many reports these days of problems with food products," Sun asked high-level officials during a congress delegate meeting, according to state-run China News Service.

During the meeting at Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People, Sun, who works for the Chinese Teenager News, continued

by asking "why are these kinds of food products available for purchase?"

"As many primary and middle school students eat our lunches at school, what can you do to put us at ease over food safety?" sheasked.

Ma Kai, a top official in China's cabinet who presided over Friday's meeting, passed the question to Education Minister Yuan Guiren, the China News Service said.

Yuan offered a stock official response pledging the government was addressing the situation and putting proper safety measures in place, a line repeated for years even as the scandals have persisted.