BEIJING, July 24 (Reuters) - Reeling from a series of scandals over tainted food and drugs throughout the country, authorities in the Chinese capital have vowed to step up controls over food vendors, state media said on Tuesday.

Beijing officials would focus on scrutinising the many small stalls selling breakfast, shutting down those that do not meet hygiene standards, the official Xinhua news agency cited an official with the local food safety office as saying.

Authorities last week detained a Chinese journalist for allegedly fabricating an investigative television report on a Beijing snack vendor selling steamed buns, or "baozi", stuffed with flavoured cardboard.

Recent revelations over shoddy food and drugs have grabbed international attention and called into doubt the made-in-China label, but China has insisted the problems are limited to a few wayward manufacturers.

Xinhua said in a separate report that the country's first national standards on fillings for foods ranging from the "moon cakes" eaten at the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival to stuffed buns were in the works.

A draft of the standards on stuffings would be out by early August, and they could go into effect yet this year, Xinhua said.

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