A Chinese court has sentenced six people for collecting used cooking oil and reselling it as new.
The recycled oil, known as ‘gutter oil’, can contain carcinogens. It is available from restaurants and the black-market business of it has been a persistent problem in China.
The Associated Press reported the Nanchang County People’s Court said three people in eastern Jiangxi province were found guilty of buying second hand cooking oil and selling 1,000 tonnes of it in 2011. The court said the scheme made $1 million.
The perpetrators face a five year sentence.
In another incident, three other people at a drinks manufacturer in southern Guangdong province bought oil from the first group and sold it to cooking oil distributors. They were sentenced for three to five years for sell poisonous food.