Chinese court sentences five over tainted pork scandal

Jul 25, 2011, 12:32 GMT

Beijing - Five people convicted in China for producing and selling the chemical clenbuterol used to adulterate meat were on Monday given from nine years in jail to a suspended death sentence, a media report said.

Liu Xiang was handed a death sentence suspended for two years, the Xinhua news agency reported. The penalty is usually commuted to one of life imprisonment.

The court in Jiaozuo in Henan province also convicted four other defendants of 'endangering public security by using dangerous means' and handed down sentences of between nine years and life.

The indictment accused them of making or selling clenbuterol despite knowing its effects. It makes animals leaner but can cause cancer and is banned from animal feed.

The scandal caused enormous damage to the livestock industry when supermarkets withdrew meat products after the substance was discovered in pork.

The defence argued that there was no proof that anyone was harmed as a result and pointed to flaws in the supervision of the country's food industry.

China Central Television reported in March that clenbuterol had been found in locally produced pork.