UPDATE 3-China vows safe food action; Lipton recalls milk-tea

Zhou Bohua, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said on television news that authorities were redoubling their efforts to remove all tainted products from store shelves.

They had disposed of 8,256 tonnes of tainted milk and milk powder so far, state TV said.

The broadcaster added that a number of provinces, including Hubei, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Liaoning, were setting minimum buying prices for milk to put a floor under the market for farmers. That comes in addition to subsidies being handed out by a number of other provinces.

In addition to vowing to clean up the milk industry, officials have promised to bring those behind the milk scandal to justice.

Police in Hebei province, which has been at the centre of the scandal, have detained 22 people suspected of being involved in a network that produced melamine and sold it to farms and milk purchasing stations, the official China Daily said on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Yu Le; Editing by Louise Ireland)