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Man gets suspended death penalty over tainted food

A report says a man has received a suspended death sentence for making and selling a chemical that makes pork leaner but is harmful to humans. Tainted pork is among a string of recent food scandals in China.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A report says a man has received a suspended death sentence for making and selling a chemical that makes pork leaner but is harmful to humans. Tainted pork is among a string of recent food scandals in China.

The official Xinhua News Agency said a court in central Henan province sentenced Liu Xiang to death with a two-year reprieve for making and dealing in clenbuterol.

The drug converts fat to muscle quickly in pigs, so it makes more profit for farmers.

But China banns it because the drug can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches and heart palpitations in humans.

The court jailed four other people to terms from nine years to a life sentence.