New ministry to crack down on tainted food

Lawmakers and experts have called on authorities to make the best from the planned establishment of a new ministry to oversee food safety and crack down on fake medicines, a move in response to a sharp increase in such cases in recent years.

A total of 11,251 suspects have been charged with producing fake or substandard drugs or toxic food from 2008 to 2012, said Cao Jianming, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the country's highest prosecution body.