Fake food salt makers face trial in Anhui

SHANGHAI - Products containing fake edible salt extracted from pesticide residue may have made their way on to dining tables in some areas, police in Anhui province have warned.

The warning follows the arrest of three people who manufactured and sold more than 10,000 tons of the fake salt. They are being held to face a public hearing, a court officer from Fuyang city's Yingquan district, Anhui province, told China Daily on Tuesday.

It is thought that more than 14,000 tons of affected products have been sold to markets in 12 provinces and municipalities on the Chinese mainland since 2009. It was that year when the suspects Xu Jingdong, Tao Xianchu and Liu Wei set up a business in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, to purchase waste residues from the production of pesticides by the factory of Zhenjiang Jiangnan Chemical Engineering Co.