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16 on trial in China gutter oil case
特大地沟油案开庭 16名被告受审
In east China’s Jiangsu Province, a trial has been held over a case of illegal producing and selling of gutter oil. Sixteen defendants stand charged of profiting from the manufacturing of gutter oil, selling fake and substandard products, as well as manufacturing and selling toxic and hazardous food.
The amount of money involved goes as high as 60 million yuan, or almost 10 million U.S. dollars.
The case is the biggest of its kind since China’s Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate offered judicial interpretation for laws on criminal cases related to food safety in May earlier this year.
For the first time, the use of "gutter oil" was clearly criminalized as an act of mixing toxic substances with food.
Gutter oil refers to recycled kitchen-waste oil dredged from gutters behind restaurants.
Official figures show that from 2010 to 2012, Chinese courts heard over 1,500 food safety related criminal cases. More than 2,000 people were convicted on related offenses.
