KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian authorities on Thursday destroyed more than 100 tons of inferior, illegal, and chemical-contained food products, which were seized late last year, officials said.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng said it was the third large-scale destruction of counterfeit products since October last year, adding that the products were blended with chemical substances that were prohibited by law because they could cause cancer and other fatal illnesses.

"This is a large amount of inferior, illegal and chemical-contained food products. If we had not cracked down on them timely, they would be distributed to markets, and the victims would be our citizens," he said.

"These counterfeit products can cause serious dangers to the health of consumers or sometimes cost their lives," he added.

Mech Sophanna, chairman of the Committee for Combating Counterfeit Products, said the destroyed counterfeit products were confiscated during a raid on an illegal food production house in southwestern Kampong Speu province in November last year.

"The destruction of these inferior, illegal and chemical-contained food products today is a message to unscrupulous producers and distributors that we will continue doing our best to prevent and confiscate counterfeit products for destruction," he said.

According to Sophanna, the committee had cracked down on 19 cases in 2017, seizing a total of 597 tons of counterfeit cosmetics and food products.