China publishes 10 typical food fraud cases

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) published 10 typical cases of cheating and misleading advertising concerning food products on March 14.

In one of the cases, a suspect from central China's Hunan province used Internet to sell food added with banned substances, including sibutramine and phenolphthalein. The case is worth of 200 million yuan ($31.67 million).

Another two cases, each worth of 10 million yuan, also involve adding of illegal substances to food products.

The suspects from the three cases have been transferred to the police.

The other cases involve illegal acts such as food production without permission and using fake production dates on labels.

The authorities will keep taking strong action against such cases, punish the suspects and stop their momentum, according to the CFDA, which released a video and a poster warning the public of misleading food advertisements, particularly those of health food, on Thursday, the World Consumer Rights Day.

The CFDA worked with eight other departments to launch a year-long campaign to crack down on food frauds across the country last July and had handled 12,000 cases by the end of 2017.