BEIJING -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Wednesday pledged to tighten the crackdown on official misconduct in food and drug safety, taking down the "protective umbrella" shielding criminals.

Procuratorates at all levels should target job-related crimes involving serious food and drug safety incidents, the SPP said in a statement.

Officials who are found to have turned a blind eye to illegal activities in the food and drug industries; failed to transfer criminal cases to judicial organs; and those suspected of falsifying the results of food tests or animal and plant quarantine, will be harshly punished, it added.

Procuratorates will also tighten inspection to address dereliction of duty or graft to dismantle the "protective umbrellas" that shield criminals.