Wang Wenhe (right) is sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a court in Beijing's Xicheng district on Tuesday, for producing and selling harmful roast ducks. His wife Fang Jinnu received a one-year term for the same crime. Cao Yin / China Daily

BEIJING - Nine people, involved in two separate gangs producing and selling unsafe food in the capital, received jail terms ranging from one to six years on Tuesday.

Wang Wenhe, 43, and his wife, Fang Jinnu, were found guilty in the people's court of Xicheng district of repackaging and selling rotten ducks and sentenced to two and a half years and one year respectively.

Their two accomplices received prison terms of two and a half years and two years.

Wang and his wife, who came to Beijing from Jiangxi province, bought a large number of rotten roast ducks and gave them new packages before selling them between May last year and May this year.

"I tried some of the ducks before I sold them," Wang told China Daily. "I didn't think the ducks would be harmful to residents' health."

"We didn't find a job when we arrived in Beijing two years ago, so we started to produce and sell ducks for a living," his wife explained. "But we only made about 2,000 yuan ($315) a month from the business."

"I didn't think about the danger or consequences of selling the rotten ducks," she said, adding she had no idea what they would do in the future.

The couple said the punishment was heavier than they expected and they may appeal.

According to Cheng Jie, the judge who heard the case, the convicts usually sold their ducks in small stores in rail stations and tourist attractions because the roast duck is a specialty of Beijing and many tourists buy them.

In a similar case, Kong Lingye and Yuan Jichang were both sentenced to six years and fined 60,000 yuan in the people's court of Dongcheng district for repacking and selling harmful roast ducks.

Kong, from Hebei province, was convicted of providing "new clothes" with the name of a well-known "Beijing roast duck" brand for putrid vacuum-packed roast ducks purchased from Yuan, the manager of a meat workshop, and then selling them in Dongcheng district.

Kong bought the ducks from Yuan at the price of 3 yuan each and then sold them at about 10 to 20 yuan each.

Kong was arrested on May 25 and the police found more than 8,000 bags of rotten roast ducks in his rented room. Yuan was arrested one month later.

Two other men and a woman also involved in the illegal activity were jailed. All five decided not to appeal.

Since May, the country's Criminal Law has given stricter penalties to those found guilty of food safety offences, but most of the criminals involved in such crimes are not very well-educated and are not aware of that, said Tang Hongxin, a Beijing-based lawyer specializing at criminal cases at the Ying Ke Law Firm.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/09/2011 page5)