China siblings charged for fake health food scam

BEIJING, June 6 (Reuters) Shanghai prosecutors have charged a brother and sister with producing and selling millions of yuan worth of fake health-food products in dozens of cities across China, local media reported today.

The report comes as international attention is focused on Chinese-made goods after a series of scandals overseas, including pet deaths in the United States from tainted food and toxic chemicals in toothpaste exported to Central America.

Fan Tongmei, 37, and her brother, Fan Tongxue, gathered raw materials in Guangzhou, capital of the southern province of Guangdong, and manufactured fakes of several international brands, the Shanghai Daily said.

''We did this secretly because I didn't have any licences. I thought if I was caught I would just be fined,'' the paper quoted Fan Tongmei as saying.

The pair hired 10 workers to produce the fakes and sold them in 64 cities across China, reaping more than 4 million yuan (523,500 dollars), the paper said, citing prosecutors.

The paper did not say whether the fake goods were harmful.

Beijing's food and drug watchdog had issued a blacklist naming 20 companies involved in the mail-order sale of fake drugs, the Beijing Youth Daily said in a separate report on Friday.

Last week, the capital's drug supervision bureau raided a fake medicine factory seizing 800 kg (1,760 lb) of materials, local media reported.

About 200,000 people die in China each year from improper use of drugs, Chinese doctors and pharmacists said last month.

($1=7.641 Yuan) REUTERS JK BST0744