Chinese authorities have arrested six people for making and selling fake infant formula as the popular US brand Similac, marketing the counterfeit product across seven provinces, a Shanghai government body said.
Abbott Laboratories, maker of Similac, yesterday said separately that the case came to light in December last year and the fake goods had been traced and seized by the end of last year, according to a statement on its verified Chinese microblog.
The case is the latest scandal involving food safety in China.
In 2008, several infants died and thousands fell ill because of baby milk powder tainted by a chemical additive, driving parents to seek out foreign brands.
The Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration said it was also tracking Internet sales of the fake milk powder, a statement released on Monday said.
State media reports have previously said the gang sold more than 17,000 cans, earning nearly 2 million yuan (US$308,875).
National authorities said the fake powder posed no safety risk.
In a separate case, a Chinese court last month sentenced 10 people to jail for as long as 15 years for selling fake beef jerky, state media reported.
That gang, in eastern Zhejiang Province, used pork, but added flavoring and pigment to make the product appear like beef, Xinhua news agency said.
Shanghai pursued a high-profile case against US food producer OSI Group for packaging out-of-date and substandard meat as new products, jailing six of its employees in February.
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