BEIJING, May 31 (UPI) -- Food safety violators in China could be sentenced to death, the country's Supreme People's Court has ordered.
The provision is contained in a notice to lower courts issued by the highest court last week in the wake of a number of safety violation scandals that has rocked the country. The notice called for even harsher punishments than currently imposed for those convicted of food safety crimes, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The notice said lower courts should hand down death sentences to those found guilty of food safety violations that result in loss of human lives. The notice said "food safety concerns the people's interests and livelihoods, social stability and the future of socialism with Chinese characteristics."
A person found guilty of committing several crimes in one case, such as food safety violations, producing and selling counterfeit and shoddy goods, infringement of intellectual property rights and illegal business dealings, should be given the harshest punishment, the notice said. The notice urged severe punishments for government workers who shield violators, and those accepting bribes from criminals.
China's major scandals have ranged from milk laced with melamine and pigs fed with performance-enhancing drugs, to watermelons juiced up with growth-stimulating chemicals, CNN reported.
The scandals have hit Chinese consumers even as authorities have come down hard on violators.
If such scandals continue, food safety official Peter K. Ben Embarek at the World Health Organization told CNN the Chinese consumer will "lose confidence in Chinese products and consumers abroad will equally lose confidence in Chinese products."
