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29 March 2024

China peddlers of "gutter oil" could face death

Published
By Reuters

Peddlers of poisonous "gutter oil" for use in cooking could face the death penalty under new sentencing guidelines issued by China's Ministry of Public Security.  

The rules promise harsh punishment for those who knowingly manufacture, transport, sell, or serve food cooked with oil made from food waste, waste oil, and other harmful ingredients. 

The guidelines, which are aimed at courts and prosecutors pursuing cases gutter oil producers and distributors, follow a series of factory raids by police. 

In December last year, 52 people at a factory in the southern province of Jiangxi were arrested for making and selling cooking oil dredged from restaurant gutters.  Another factory in Guangdong was raided in January this year.   

The guidelines instruct judicial authorities to consider the severity of the harm done when considering punishment. The death penalty may be considered in cases that cause massive harm or where the "response of the masses is intense." 

The crackdown on tainted oil is part of China's broader battle against health safety violations in its sprawling, highly decentralized food sector. 

Earlier this month, authorities announced an investigation of eggs that bounce after being boiled and may make men sterile.   

In August last year, a Chinese court sentenced seven people to jail for selling illegal toxic chemicals to pork producers.