Police in western China detained 11 people after a crowd of angry customers in early May smashed a halal shop suspected of mishandling food prepared according to Islamic custom, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.

A group of people in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, broke into a store and vandalised it after discovering that non-halal foods had been transported along with halal products, a violation of regulations.

An investigation by authorities revealed that suspicions that sausages had been sold at the store were not true.