13 individuals named on first food safety blacklist

Food safety authorities blacklisted two restaurants and 13 individuals working in the food industry Wednesday, marking the first time they have published their monthly blacklist since the system was introduced last year.

The companies and individuals were blacklisted for violating food safety law, according to the Shanghai Municipal Food Safety Committee Office, which posted the blacklist and related information on its website.

The violations included using recycled cooking oil to prepare food, selling industrial salt as if it were edible salt, and processing or selling pork from pigs that died from disease. The company owners and individuals will be prohibited from working in the food industry for a specified period of time. All received high-level administrative fines.

Zheng Pin, the owner of a hotpot restaurant that prepared food with recycled cooking oil, will be prevented from running food businesses in Shanghai for five years. Authorities also revoked the restaurant's license.

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration slapped Zheng with an administrative fine of 1.77 million yuan ($288,809). She was also convicted of criminal charges and sentenced to three and a half years in prison, plus a 200,000-yuan fine.

The Shanghai Municipal Food Safety Committee Office issued the largest fines allowed under food safety law, said Gu Zhenhua, the office's vice director. In addition, the office will not limit the number of companies or individuals it puts on the blacklist each month.

Six individuals were blacklisted for processing or selling pork from pigs that died of causes other than slaughter, which violates food safety law. The individuals were given sentences ranging from 15 months to 33 months in prison and between 3,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan in fines.

Gu said that the individuals will be banned from working in the food industry for one year as the authorities will check each personal work record in the food industry before they are given a job.

Gu refused to disclose how much of the pork had been sold by the individuals.

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