BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court says six people have been sentenced to up to five years in prison for collecting used cooking oil and reselling it as new.
The recycled oil is known as "gutter oil" and can contain carcinogens. It's typically bought from restaurants, and the black-market trade of it has been a chronic problem in China.
The Nanchang County People's Court says three people in eastern Jiangxi province were found guilty of buying substandard cooking oil and selling 1,000 tons of it in 2011. The court statement says the effort made $1 million.
Three other people at a drinks manufacturer in southern Guangdong province bought oil from the first group and sold it to cooking oil distributors. They were imprisoned for three-to-five years for selling poisonous food.
