By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China – The dairy farmer and milk salesman who sold more than three million pounds of contaminated baby formula in China were executed on Tuesday.
Six babies died from drinking milk contaminated with melamine, which is a chemical used in manufacturing plastic and fertilizers, and more than 300,000 children were made ill.
Families in line at a hospital in Hebei Province for ultrasonic scan to detect health problems related to drinking tainted milk. Courtesy of AP.
Melamine is an industrial chemical with high levels of nitrogen, and can cause kidney stones and kidney failure.
The Chinese officials are hoping that the severe punishment imposed on the milk producers will bring some consolation and assurance to the angry public and milk importers, in addition to brining closure to one of the country’s worst food scandals.
Much of the tainted milk ended up in baby formula sold by Sanlu Group, a major dairy company in Northeast China. Since the scandal broke, the company has been taken over by a state-controlled company.
Zhang Yujun at his trial last December. Courtesy of China Daily/Reuters.
Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinping were the only men to be executed among those convicted of lacing milk formula with melamine. Additionally, 19 others were also convicted received lesser sentences.
The milk contamination struck a core with the Chinese public because although China claimed swift response to eliminating problems in food safety, this tainted milk scandal was only one in a series of product recalls and other disclosures of inadequate public health safeguards.
Despite Beijing’s efforts to regulate small and illegally run operations, a UN report said that many of China’s small businesses pose the greatest food safety hazard. These small enterprises are often accused of injecting chemicals and additives into the food chain.
Nevertheless, China has been cooperating with U.S. officials to tighten its food safety regulations. U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission Chairman, Inez Tenenbaum, said that “Chinese suppliers…are now on notice…that it is a mistake to depend on good intentions and a few final inspections to ensure compliance with safety requirements.”
However, the outrage over the tainted milk scandal has not yet subsided. There are allegations that the Chinese government prevented the news from breaking until after the Beijing Olympics.
The cover-up allegations have never been publicly investigated, and the authorities have harassed or detained parents who are pursuing lawsuits or demanding higher compensation.
For more information, please see:
AP – China executes 2 for role in tainted milk scandal – 25 November 2009
Guardian – China executes two for tainted milk scandal – 24 November 2009
NYT – 2 Executed in China for Selling Tainted Milk – 24 November 2009
