A ring that sold the meat of foxes and minks as mutton to agricultural markets in Shanghai and neighboring Jiangsu Province was busted and 63 suspects arrested by Jiangsu police as part of a national campaign against food safety crimes revealed yesterday.
A total of 904 people in China were captured during the three-month campaign, the Ministry of Public Security said.
The ministry said since January 25, police had uncovered 382 cases involving meat-related offenses, and seized more than 20,000 tons of illegal products.
In the Jiangsu case, more than 200 police officers were dispatched to over 50 locations used by the ring in Shanghai and Wuxi City, with more than 10 tons of raw meat, finished and semi-finished products seized in February.
Police said a suspect, surnamed Wei, bought the meat of foxes, minks and rats without quarantine inspection from east China's Shandong Province and used additives to make them look and taste like mutton. The additives included gelatin, carmine and nitrate, according to police. The products were sold to markets in Shanghai and Wuxi and the suspects made more than 10 million yuan (US$1.63 million).
Crimes found in the national campaign included the production of water-injected meat, the use of chemicals while processing products, as well as the selling of diseased and fake meat.
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