Beijing, Nov 26 (THAINDIAN NEWS) In a bizarre turn of justice, China has executed a dairy farmer and a milk salesman on Tuesday for their roles in the sale of contaminated baby formula. China has given such severe punishments so that it would be like balm to the public anger, reassure importers and put to rest one of the country’s worst food safety crises.

The scheming Chinese men tried to increase their profits by lacing milk powder with the industrial chemical melamine. Apart from these 2 who were executed, 19 other people were also convicted and they received other punishments. Because of the adulterated milk formula, six children died and a whooping 300,000 became sick.

The nineteen people were tried and sentenced in January for their roles in this adulteration scheme. Fifteen of them were imprisoned for terms of 2 to 15 years. One received a suspended death sentence, and three received life sentences.

This adulteration costed a lot to China in terms of its safety standards and other issues so the Chinese government tried to salvage its image by this strict execution punishment. The Chinese tried to respond swiftly and comprehensively to eliminate problems in its food production chain that have spawned protests at home and threatened its export-reliant economy to a lot extent.