Supplier of Sudan I food additives placed for prosecution

Two executives of a Chinese food company were prosecuted at Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court over the use of Sudan I, a cancer-causing industrial dyestuff, in their products.

At a court hearing held on Monday, Tan Weitang, general manager of both Guangzhou-base Tianyang Food Co. Ltd. and the Guangzhou Food Institute Service Company, and Feng Yonghua, the assistant to the general manager, were accused of the crime of producing and marketing counterfeit goods.

Tianyang Food Co. Ltd. and Guangzhou Food Institute Service Company are actually the same organization with different functions. The former is responsible for production and the latter is in charge of marketing.

Tianyang company churned out 242,700 kilograms of food additives containing Sudan I between March 2002 to March 2005, and sold 238,900 kg of them and fetched 4.37 million yuan (about 538,804 U.S. dollars) from the sales.

Tianyang's products were sold to more than 30 Chinese food manufacturers and companies in 18 provinces and regions, including Heinz Meiweiyuan (Guangzhou) Food Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Heinz, a U.S. food-manufacturing giant.

Located in Zengcheng, a suburban city of Guangzhou, Tianyang company was shut down after the Sudan I incident was exposed early last year.

There are no reports of death or illness caused by the use of Sudan I in Tianyang's products at the present stage.

The result of the court trial will be announced soon.

Source: Xinhua