Police in major crackdown on tainted meat(2)

The police arrested two suspects, and seized 40 tons of fake frozen meat on the scene. Police said that since 2008, the main suspect, named Shi, always bought untested smuggled frozen meat from Guangdong province, then sold it in seven provinces, including Liaoning, Jilin and Hebei.

The amount of money involved was up to 60 million yuan ($9.74 million), the ministry said.

Yan Zhengbin, deputy director of security management bureau under the ministry, said: "We will cooperate with other authorities to target infants' dairy products, fresh milk purchase, milk power production and processing, as well as imports."

Moreover, the ministry will focus on deepening the fight against gutter oil, pork from ill and dead pigs, fake meat products, and poisonous and harmful healthcare products.

Wu Ming'an, a professor specializing in criminal law at China University of Political Science and Law, said dealing with the food safety problem requires stricter enforcement instead of legislation.

The three-month campaign seemed to get great results, but cannot tackle the crimes' root causes, he said.

Now, many administrations are involved, including public security bureaus, but every department in fact does not know its exact responsibilities, he said.

"Police cannot only focus on short-term crackdowns just because recent news like dead pigs in rivers aroused social concern," he said.

"Only when every administrator can make clear his or her duty and carry out laws strictly will the problem be alleviated."