Chinese syndicate stands trial for faking baby formula

A Chinese syndicate of 11 people stood trial on Tuesday in Shanghai for allegedly producing and selling counterfeit baby formula imitating popular foreign and domestic brands.

The group was accused of manufacturing milk powder cans that copied the designs and logos of Beingmate and Abbott and filling them with cheap and inferior formula. The products were sold to the market through traders in several east and central China cities.

According to the indictment, at least 15,000 cans of counterfeit Abbott baby formula and 9,000 cans of counterfeit Beingmate products were sold between 2014 and 2015, earning illegal gains of millions of yuan.

The Shanghai food safety watchdog, police, and procuratorate were alerted to act in September 2015 after Abbott reported the case.

The authorities said they have been tracing and confiscating all fake products of the two syndicates on the market.

People convicted of manufacturing or selling counterfeit products can be sentenced to life in prison in severe cases.

The two-day trial, heard in the Third Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai, ended Tuesday without the announcement of a judgment.