Chinese authorities arrested 17,000 suspects for offences including illegal food production, gambling, and drug trafficking in a nationwide crackdown, state media said Saturday.

In a sweeping campaign launched on August 22 officials investigated over 36,000 cases and shut down over 7,000 venues, Xinhua news agency reported.

After several high-profile food safety scandals over recent years, China is particularly keen to curb the tainting of food products to reassure citizens and restore faith in government.

A Shanghai court this month jailed three executives of a food company for five to nine years after they were found responsible for illegally adding yellow dye to a type of steamed bun made of corn flour.

One of the biggest safety scandals emerged in 2008 when huge amounts of the industrial chemical melamine were found to have been illegally added to dairy products to give the appearance of higher protein content.

The 36,000 cases investigated since August included the sale of clenbuterol, an illegal fat-burning drug sometimes used as an additive in pig feed, and "gutter oil," or cooking oil made from leftovers taken from gutters, the statement said.

Police officers received over 28,000 tip offs from the public, it said. In September last year, authorities in China -- including the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Public Security -- called for tougher penalties including the death sentence in serious food safety cases.