32 arrested on suspicion of adding illegal additives to food

A total of 32 people suspected of making or selling diet food with illegal additives, including former inmate Guo Meimei, were detained by Shanghai police, Shanghai-based news outlet ThePaper reported on Thursday.

The case was solved by police in the city's Pudong district on March 11, and the suspects include a woman surnamed Zeng responsible for alleged food production, and two women, surnamed Zhou and Guo, for alleged sales.

The police just disclosed the surnames and ages of the three suspects, but the media said it confirmed the 30-year-old Guo is Guo Meimei.

Investigation is still underway.

Guo was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 50,000 yuan ($7,840) in September 2015 by Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court for operating gambling houses.

Guo became a national internet celebrity in 2011 when she claimed on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, to be the general manager of a company called Red Cross Commerce.

She also showed off her luxury possessions and an extravagant lifestyle.

Both Guo and the Red Cross Society publicly denied having any ties with each other. However, her posts still triggered public concerns on how the charitable organization used its donations, and in a subsequent investigation, Guo was found to be completely unrelated with the society. She later apologized to the public and the organization.

She was placed under public scrutiny again in 2014 after Beijing police found an internet soccer gambling group during the World Cup. Guo was detained and then faced a prison term.