China's food regulators nabbed dozens of sellers suspected of sourcing pork from animals that died of illnesses and seized tons of contaminated meat on Sunday.

The arrests came as part of the Chinese government's efforts to improve safety standards. The country's top watchdog has pledged tighter regulation, after conceding drug and food safety in China was "grim," according to a report published by Reuters.

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Chinas's Public Security Ministry revealed more than 110 suspects were part of a ring connecting 11 groups, which, for six years, had been buying pigs that died of diseases from farms at rock bottom prices.

The tainted meat was then taken to markets in 11 provinces, including Guangxi and Henan, or it was cured into bacon or oil for sale. The suspects allegedly bribed authorities to get quarantine papers, officials said.

The ministry also said 75 of the suspects and several food quarantine staff have been prosecuted, after concluding a probe into the ring that lasted two years, the report relayed.

A string of highly publicized scandals that involved donkey meat and tainted milk powder has raised food safety concerns in the world's most populous country. The scandals also involved foreign retail and fast food companies such as McDonald's and Wal-Mart, the report added.

Two years ago, thousands of dead pigs floated down the Huangpu River in Shanghai after the regional authorities rounded up a network of gangs that had been peddling discarded carcasses as meat in the underground market, that led to overcrowding in livestock facilities.

Tagstainted pork, food safety scandal, food safety violation, contaminated meat