Beijing high court sentences 17 in two years over food security

Seventeen people in 15 cases have been sentenced for hurting food safety in Beijing in the past two years, with many punished for selling harmful health supplements.

The Beijing High People's Court revealed the figures on Friday, noting that most cases happened in the field of healthcare products, and a number of criminals were banned from working in the food sector again.

In a case disclosed by the high court, a defendant surnamed Yang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling toxic and harmful food. He was also fined 200,000 yuan ($27,914).

From December 2019 to November 2020, Yang was found to have made more than 950,000 yuan in profits by selling tea for lowering blood sugar through the internet without a food business license. After testing, the tea was discovered to contain illegal additives.

Yang knowingly sold the products to diabetes patients, despite knowing that he did not have a license and that the tea did not meet the food safety standard, thereby committing the crime of selling harmful food, according to a Beijing court.

While announcing the imprisonment and fine, the court also confiscated Yang's illicit gains, and ordered Yang to pay about 3.27 million yuan as punitive damage and apologize to the public through national-level news platforms.

In addition, courts across the city have also increased the punishment by prohibiting convicted criminals from engaging in the food industry, the high court said.

For example, three criminals were permanently banned from engaging in the food production and management work or holding positions as food safety managers in the industry, the high court added.