Beijing, China (AHN)—Chinese authorities executed two businessmen for their role in a tainted milk scandal that resulted in six babies dying and causing 300,000 others to fall ill.
According to published reports from the country's state run media Zhang Yujun was executed for endangering public safety and Geng Jinping was executed for producing and selling toxic food.
The Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate People's Court sentencedZhang to death for endangering public safety by dangerous means and producing more than 770 metric tons and selling more than 600 tons of melamine-laced protein powder from July 2007 to August 2008. Geng was executed for producing and selling toxic food and selling more than 900 tons of milk tainted with 434 kg of protein powder to the now defunct Sanlu Group. Sanlu, which was based in Hebei province, had been China's leading seller of milk powder for 15 years until the melamine scandal broke last year.
The health issue gained worldwide attention in September 2008, when several babies grew ill after drinking formula that contained melamine. The substance is routinely used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. It appears some Chinese dairy plants added the chemical to milk products in an attempt to make it look as if the product contained had a high content of protein.
Read the full story at AHN.