BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua)
-- More than 8,200 suspects have been
captured since a campaign to crack
down on crime was launched on
Jan. 25, the Ministry of Public
Security said Wednesday.
The
ministry said police uncovered more
than 4,500 cases involving food safety
offenses and closed about 6,300 workshops
and markets that produced or sold
illegal food products.
Police
confiscated more than 150,000 illegal
products, including fake cooking oil,
meat, spices and seasonings, health
care products, alcoholic beverages, soft
drinks and illegal additives, the
ministry said in a
report.
The fight against food
safety crime remains onerous, as
offenses in some areas are prone
to reoccur, according to the
ministry.
The police will
continue to work with government
authorities to fight food safety
crime, the report said.
China
has seen multiple food safety scandals
in recent years.
In 2008, at
least six children died and 300,000
others fell ill after consuming milk
powder contaminated with
melamine.
Recent scandals involving
adulterated mutton, lime-preserved eggs
processed with copper sulphate and
ginger grown with highly toxic
pesticide have aggravated public concerns
over food safety.
