[JURIST] China has arrested 774 people in a crackdown on the production of substandard products, officials said Monday. The Chinese General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) [official website, in Chinese] conducted 626 criminal investigations into the manufacture and sale of fake or poor quality food, medicine and agricultural products between August and October. China came under fire earlier this year after chemicals were found in toothpaste [NYT report], toys and seafood, and was generally blamed for toxins found in pet food [IHT report] that killed hundreds of dogs and cats in the US.

Nearly 200 illegal food companies were closed after more than 10,000 rule violations were found to have taken place. Chinese Vice Minister for Agriculture Gao Hongbin said a new standard of using barcodes to track food production will take effect on January 1. AP has more.