Case study no. 6Case study no. 6

Rat and fox meat, labeled as muttonRat and fox meat, labeled as mutton

2013-1-RO1-LEO05-28756

LLP-LdV/TOI/2013/RO/007

More than 900 people were arrested in China, after they have labeled rat and fox meat as mutton, in a food scandal from this country.

The criminal organization used to sell rats and other small mammals as sheep meat, getting in this way an income of over one million dollars, announced the Chinese authorities.

Over 900 people were arrested, starting with January, for selling and producing meat based food which was decayed, the Ministry for Public Health announced in a press release.

One of the suspects used additives in order to flavour and sell rat, fox and mink meat, in the markets from the Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces.

• Among the people arrested are 63 persons who were leading such an operation in Shanghai and Wuxi and who bought rat or fox meat and sold it as lamb meat.

• The China Penal Code , which forbids the selling of food considered to be poisonous or unsafe for consumption, does not mention that such deeds represent an infringement of the law.

Over 20.000 tons of meat products have been confiscated following this action, and

illegal food factories have been closed during the national operation. At the same time, the suspects injected the meat with

water, in order to increase its weight.

Food security and environmental pollution are chronic issues in

China , and public anxiety regarding toxic or falsely labeled

food is rapidly spreading.

• The Ministry of Security has pointed out that the operation was conducted within a wider investigation regarding food security, including the discovery, in March, of thousands of dead pigs floating on the river that crosses Shanghai or the selling of “recycled” cooking oil.