China's quality watchdog cracked 23,000 cases of fake and low-quality food from December 2006 to May 2007, involving 200 million yuan (US$26 million).

A total of 180 food manufacturers were shut down during the six months for making substandard food or using inedible materials for food production, said Han Yi, a senior official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine at a press conference on Tuesday.

The administration launched the nationwide fight against illegal food production and processing in December last year, mainly targeting food makers in the countryside and food for everyday consumption, including baby milk powder, rice, wheat powder, and meat products.

In 2006, China's industrial and commercial authorities ferreted out 68,000 fake food cases and withdrew 15,500 tons of substandard food from the market, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce; forty-eight cases were handed over to judicial departments.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2007)