Food safety has criminal thresholds: diseased meat, dangerous contamination and toxic nonfood ingredients can lead to imprisonment

Free. Follow entry 8: retain quarantine and purchasing documents, and use ingredients with verifiable approvals.

Criminal Law Article 143 covers food failing safety standards that is sufficient to cause serious food poisoning or other serious foodborne disease. The basic penalty is up to 3 years or criminal detention plus a fine; serious health injury or other serious circumstances bring 3–7 years plus a fine; especially serious consequences bring 7 years to life plus a fine or confiscation of property. Article 144 covers adding toxic or harmful nonfood raw materials, or knowingly selling food containing them: up to 5 years plus a fine; serious health harm or other serious circumstances bring 5–10 years plus a fine; death or especially serious circumstances invoke Article 141, with 10 years or more, life imprisonment or death. The Supreme Court/Procuratorate interpretation lists conditions sufficient for serious poisoning: severely excessive pathogens, pesticide or veterinary-drug residues, biological toxins, heavy metals or other contaminants; meat/products from diseased animals, animals of unknown cause of death or failed inspection/quarantine; products expressly banned for disease-control or similar special needs; and seriously deficient nutrients in special-medical-purpose formulas or infant main/complementary foods. Excessive or out-of-scope additives reaching the same danger level also fall under Article 143. Toxic/harmful nonfood materials include legally prohibited additions and substances on State Council department lists, such as banned pesticides or drugs prohibited in food animals. Another serious circumstance under Article 144 concerns production/sales of RMB 100,000 to under RMB 200,000 in or around schools, childcare or eldercare institutions, targeting minors or older people. Unauthorized pig slaughter and sales in undesignated facilities constitute illegal business operations when serious: business of at least RMB 100,000 or proceeds of at least RMB 50,000. Chinese rules apply.

The distinction from the preceding three entries is the food's safety itself. Missing permission, labeling omissions and treatment claims bring financial penalties; diseased meat, severe contamination, unsafe additive use and toxic nonfood ingredients enter criminal proceedings. Buy meat only from designated slaughter facilities and keep both quarantine and meat-quality certificates for every batch; use verifiably approved ingredients. Suspiciously cheap meat and scraps of unknown origin are common problems. The original Supreme Court Gazette page returned 502 during review, so two matching provincial official reprints were cited.

NPC Standing Committee (2020 amendment). Criminal Law, Articles 141, 143 and 144. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808181796a636a0179822a19640c92 (National Laws and Regulations Database); Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate (2021). Interpretation on Criminal Cases Endangering Food Safety, [2021] No. 24, Articles 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 17 and 18, effective January 1, 2022. https://scjg.hebei.gov.cn/info/79117 (Hebei market regulator's full reprint), https://sft.ln.gov.cn/sft/ywgz/zfflgw/xzys/2525860BD0F843EFA7A3B7FDC330614E/index.shtml (Liaoning justice department's full reprint; the two texts were checked word for word).