By Alexa Olesen
Beijing - Three Chinese grocery wholesalers have been sentenced to prison for selling fake milk formula that left a newborn baby boy severely malnourished, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
The boy was one of more than 200 infants who suffered malnutrition after drinking phony formula in the eastern province of Anhui. An investigation later found widespread milk powder counterfeiting in the province. At least 12 babies died.
Wholesalers Ma Dacheng, Lu Jie and Gao Jian were sentenced to jail terms of six months to three years and fined by the Taihe county court, the Beijing Youth Daily reported. The three were tried only for selling the fake milk to farmer Gao Zheng's baby son.
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| his newborn son was wasting away |
The wholesalers were in the middle of a long distribution chain. It was not clear from the report whether they knew that the powder they were selling would make children sick.
The 12 infant deaths were an embarrassment to the government of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who has called for officials to focus on protecting public health and safety.
More than 130 merchants, milk producers and officials in and around the city of Fuyang in Anhui were arrested. Courts are hearing numerous criminal and civil cases that arose out of the scandal.
Several local commerce officials and merchants already have been sentenced to prison. The government says it plans to punish 97 officials for allowing fake milk powder sales.
The case in Taihe County was uncovered when Gao became suspicious because his newborn son was wasting away despite being fed Yilu brand baby formula, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
Gao sent the powder to authorities for testing and was told it had a fraction of the required nutrients, the report said.
Ma bought the powder from Chen Shaolin, who claimed to represent the Shantou Eastern Oriental Food Co.
Ma then sold the powder to Lu and Gao, a couple who marked up the price and resold the milk to village grocery stores in Taihe, where Gao's family bought it, the report said.
Ma was sentenced to three years in jail and fined 5 000 yuan (about R3 000). - Sapa-AP
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