Two chefs in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, have been sentenced to prison and fined for adding prescription antibiotics to restaurant dishes. The head chef and cook received sentences of two years and 18 months respectively, with probation, and were fined a total of 160,000 yuan ($22,000).
In an effort to prevent food poisoning, the chefs illegally added gentamicin sulfate, an antibiotic used in China to treat diarrhea, to 1,612 servings of stewed dishes since 2023, generating 77,376 yuan in sales, according to Global Times. This practice violates China’s Food Safety Law, which prohibits adding medicines to food products.
According to the Mayo Clinic, gentamicin is “used to treat serious bacterial infections in many different parts of the body.”
The illegal activity was exposed in September 2023 when a restaurant employee reported it to local authorities. A subsequent raid uncovered used and unused boxes of gentamicin sulfate injection in the restaurant kitchen and office. Samples taken from restaurant food later tested positive for gentamicin sulfate.
On April 23, 2024, the chefs were sentenced and made a public apology. The restaurant faced severe penalties, including a 1.18 million yuan fine and revocation of its business license. The chefs and two managers were banned from working in food-related businesses for varying periods and placed on a dishonest list.
The investigation revealed that the antibiotics were purchased without prescription from a chain pharmacy, violating national drug management regulations. The inquiry also found that gentamicin sulfate sales had been occurring for some time from multiple stores. This has led to a broader scrutiny of local pharmacies’ practices in the countr
In response, local authorities inspected 335 catering service providers and 508 medicine retailers, ordering 120 pharmacies to rectify their practices, highlighting concerns over serious food safety violations and the need for stricter oversight in both the food service and pharmaceutical industries.
Commenting on this story, one national food poisoning lawyer said, “ There are serious potential health risks associated with adding prescription medications to food products. This case shows why rigorous oversight and enforcement of both the food service and pharmaceutical sectors is critically important to help prevent such dangerous practices.”
