Arrests in food safety campaign

China has arrested around 2,000 people and closed nearly 5,000 businesses in a major crackdown on illegal food additives, the government said.

China launched the campaign in April following a spate of tainted food scandals, including pork fed with harmful chemicals that produce leaner meat. Nearly six million food businesses have now been investigated and more than 4,900 shut down for "illegal practices", the government's Food Safety Commission said in a statement.

Police have also destroyed "underground" food production and storage sites, and arrested around 2,000 suspects, it said.