BEIJING - Claims by a Chinese company that it was raising special cows because they are a supplier to the Beijing Olympics are wrong and a "swindle", Games organisers said on Monday.

Chinese media has reported that Dalian Snow Dragon has been playing its cattle music, giving them beer to drink and massages, as the company has been named an official food provider to the Olympics and wants to provide the best beef possible.

But it is not an Olympic provider, organisers said in a statement on their official Web site (www.beijing2008.cn).

"We have noticed the debate on the Internet caused by related reports," it said in a short statement. "The Beijing Organising Committee for the Games has never confirmed this company as an Olympic food provider, and related reports are false."

"It is very wrong behaviour for a company to use people's interest in the Olympics to put out this kind of false advertising," it added.

"Using the Olympics to effect false advertising is a swindle which seriously contravenes commercial ethics."