Thaindian News

Beijing, Nov 9 (IANS) Nine people, making up two separate gangs producing and selling rotten ducks in Beijing, have been awarded prison terms varying from one to six years, the China Daily reported.

The culprits include a husband and wife — Wang Wenhe and Fang Jinnu — who were found guilty of repackaging and selling rotten ducks and sentenced to a two-and-a-half year and one-year term respectively in the people’s court of country’s Xicheng district.

After having arrived in Beijing from Jiangxi province, the couple bought a large number of rotten roast ducks and repackaed them before selling them between last May and this May.

“I tried some of the ducks before I sold them,” Wang said, adding “I didn’t think the ducks would be harmful to residents’ health.”

“We didn’t find a job when we arrived in Beijing two years ago, so we started to produce and sell ducks for a living,” his wife Fang explained. “But we only made about 2,000 yuan ($315) a month from the business.”

Their two accomplices got prison terms of two-and-a-half years and two years. But they said they would challenge the verdict, as they find the punishment too harsh.

Five others, who were jailed in similar cases of selling harmful food, however, decided against appealing the court’s verdict.

According to Tang Hongxin, a Beijing-based lawyer specialising in criminal cases, since May, the country’s Criminal Law has given stricter penalties to those found guilty of food safety offences. But most of the criminals involved in such crimes are not very well-educated and are not aware of that.