China Rat Meat Ring Busted Selling Rodents As Lamb

A criminal ring in China, accused of selling meat from rats and foxes under the guise of lamb, has been intercepted by police.

Out of all the people arrested in the three-month crackdown, 63 allegedly ran an operation out of Shanghai and Wuxi and are accused of purchasing fox, mink, rat and meat from other animals that they mixed with additives and sold as lamb.

Authorities looked into more than 380 cases and arrested 904 suspects in the country's most recent food safety scandal, according to results issued by the Ministry of Public security.

The concoction was then reportedly sold to markets in Jiangsu province and Shanghai.

China has been dealing with multiple food safety scandals for years, including issues with contaminated milk and industrial dyes being used in eggs, but has failed to control the problem.

News of the rat meat scandal coincides with new food safety guidelines issued by China's top court, outlining a more serious punishment system for violations in producing and marketing unsafe products.

"The situation is really grave and has indeed caused great harm to the people," said Pei Xianding, a supreme court judge.

"We cannot tolerate it any longer. We must punish the criminals severely, or we cannot answer to our people."

The supreme court says the number of food safety cases has grown exponentially within the past few years. And between 2010 and 2012, the court says 2,088 people have been prosecuted in 1,533 food safety cases.