WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The Bush administration pressed a high-level Chinese delegation on Tuesday about the safety of Chinese food imports, an issue that has worried many Americans since a chemical scare earlier this year.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, at the opening meeting of the two-day "strategic economic dialogue" in the U.S. capital, told Li Changjiang, China's minister of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine, that food safety was an issue that worried U.S. lawmakers and consumers alike.

"Our goal is to do everything we can to build a system that protects the safety of individuals who are consuming food from whatever part of the world," Johanns told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

Food safety isn't the centerpiece of the talks, which are centered on monetary and trade issues, but it's a subject that has resonated far and wide in the United States since a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers surfaced in U.S. pet food, killing some pets and prompting a wave of recalls.

Two food processors in China are suspected of adding melamine to vegetable proteins used to feed pets, hogs, poultry and fish. Officials say meat from animals that consumed that feed poses no real threat to human health, but public concerns haven't subsided entirely.

Johanns said he hopes the talks will achieve agreement on scientific exchanges and an "open and transparent" regulatory process, in addition to China's acceptance of U.S. audits.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told reporters that Johanns and other U.S. officials would raise food safety in detail at later sessions in the two-day economic talks.

"They know, and we will continue to emphasize, that this concerns us as it does the American people," he said.

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