Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON -- Two Chinese business groups and one US firm and their top executives were charged Wednesday with manufacturing and importing tainted ingredients used to make pet food that led to the death of thousands of cats and dogs in the United States.
They were indicted in separate but related cases over the import of more than 800 tonnes of wheat gluten falsely labeled to avoid inspection in China and tainted with melamine, an unsafe food additive, the US attorney's office in Kansas City, Missouri, said in a statement.
The charges stemmed from investigations in the wake of a massive recall of pet food last year amid reports by the US Food and Drug Administration that about 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died after eating contaminated pet food.
"Millions of pet owners remember the anxiety of last year's pet food recall," said US Attorney John Wood.
"We take seriously our responsibility to uphold the health and safety standards that protect America's food supply," he said. "Vigorous enforcement is an essential part of that effort."
Indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday were China exporter Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development (XAC) and owner Mao Linzhun as well as export broker Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products, Arts and Crafts (SSC) and president Chen Zhen Hao, who faced 26 felony charges over the case.
ChemNutra Inc., a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada which imports food and food components from China, and its American husband-wife owners Sally Qing Miller and Stephen Miller faced 26 misdemeanor charges and one charge of wire fraud conspiracy.
ChemNutra and the Millers allegedly received the melamine-tainted product in shipments made between November 2006 and February 2007 in Kansas City and then sold the product to customers, who used it to manufacture various brands of pet food, according to the indictments.
Each of the 26 charges faced by the Chinese defendants carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail, spokesman for the office told AFP.
The American defendants face a maximum of one year in jail for each of the 26 misdemeanor charges while the one charge of wire fraud conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.
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