BEIJING, July 10 (Reuters) - A Chinese court has upheld the death sentence against a former food and drug chief accused of corruption, a newspaper reported on Tuesday as the government grapples with a series of scandals over tainted products.

The Procuratorial Daily said the Beijing People's High Court backed the sentence against Zheng Xiaoyu, who once lead the State Food and Drug Administration, on charges of taking bribes and dereliction of duty.

An intermediate court imposed the death penalty on May 29 after convicting Zheng of taking bribes worth some 6.5 million yuan ($850,000) from eight companies. Zheng appealed against the sentence.

"There is still the possibility that the Supreme People's Court will not ratify the death sentence when it reviews it," said the commentary in the back pages of the paper.

"But the two courts' attitude in sentencing is enough to send a high-level warning against corruption and dereliction."

Zheng's likely execution would mark the first time China had sentenced an official of his rank to death since 2000.

The unusually harsh sentence, reflecting the weight China is giving to the issues of corruption and food safety as they grapple with the fallout overseas from a series of safety breaches involving toxins in food and other products.

Investigators found Zheng, 62, had lowered standards in renewing drug production licences, leading to the manufacture of fake drugs in a system already plagued by corruption and regulatory loopholes.

Last week, a court handed down a suspended death sentence on one of Zheng's subordinates on the same charges. Another senior SFDA official was jailed for 15 years in November for taking bribes and illegal gun possession.

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