Shanghai High People’s Court deputy director, Ding Shouxing made the comments after 18 defendants were handed sentences of between six months and six-and-a-half years in prison for their involvement in food and drug safety crimes.
“Shanghai courts pay a lot of attention to food and drug-related crimes, and will give severe punishments in these cases,” said Ding. “They brought great harm to people’s lives.”
The defendants were found guilty of charges relating to the manufacture and sale of counterfeit protein powder, salt, white spirit and imported spirits.
“These cases reflect a low moral state and lack of legal awareness of defendants, and it also exposes the holes in food and drug safety supervision and management by government departments,” added Ding.
“Those departments should enhance and improve their social management while those online trading platforms should also regularly verify the quality of business operators on the platform.”