China opens court on clenbuterol-tainted meat case

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Reporters are waiting outside the Intermediate People's Court of the city of Jiaozuo in central Henan province as a court was opened on Monday morning on the case of producing and selling clenbuterol

The Intermediate People's Court of the city of Jiaozuo in central Henan province opened court on Monday morning in the case of the production and sale of clenbuterol, a poisonous chemical that boosts the output of lean meat.

The hearing, the court of first instance, is open to public.

Liu Xiang, Xi Zhongjie, Xiao Bing, Chen Yuwei and Liu Honglin, producers and dealers of clenbuterol, are being prosecuted for the crime of "endangering public security by using dangerous means."

Liu Honglin is being sued as an accomplice for purchasing raw materials for clenbuterol production, while the others as principal defendants, according to the indictment.

Liu Xiang and Xi Zhongjie were responsible for producing and selling over 2,700 kilograms of clenbuterol, generating an illegal profit of 2.5 million yuan (387,000 U.S.dollars); Zhengzhou-based Chen Yuwei was responsible for selling over 600 kilograms of clenbuterol, generating a profit of 700,000 yuan; Luoyang-based Xiao Bing sold 1,300 kilograms, raking in a profit of more than 600,000 yuan.

The clenbuterol they produced or sold was distributed to eight provincial regions, including Henan, Shandong and Jiangsu, the indictment says.

The indictment states that the five suspects, despite possessing knowledge of the harm of clenbuterol, nevertheless became involved in the production and sale of it.

Their acts also brought tremendous losses to the local livestock-farming industry, the indictment said.

The accused, however, defended themselves by pointing out the loopholes in pork processing companies and government supervision. They also argued there was no relevant case in which consumers got ill as a result of taking in clenbuterol-tainted meat.

The court debate also centered on the charge of "endangering public security by using dangerous means," which, if put into the verdict, will set a legal precedence on Chinese courts dealing with food safety cases.

In March, the China Central Television reported that some pork producers had used pork tainted with the fat-burning drug clenbuterol in its products.

The chemical, which can cause cancers and various health problems and therefore banned in the food production, were even detected in pigs purchased by a subsidiary company of Shuanghui Group, China's largest meat processor.

The scandal trapped the Henan-based company in a mass of media and public lambaste, causing tremendous losses for the meat giant as supermarkets across the nation rushed to move off its products from shelves amid online calls to boycott anything from the company.

Before the Monday court hearing, Shuanghui announced that it would clean up nearly 3,800 tonnes of clenbuterol-tainted meat in a bid to ease consumers' concern.

Clenbuterol is a chemical that can be fed to pigs to make them leaner and come to market sooner. The chemical is poisonous to humans and is banned as an additive in stock feed in China.