Food has criminal lines: diseased or substandard meat can be a crime; toxic adulteration starts at five years regardless of sales

Earlier items fine money; this one can put you in prison. Selling diseased meat, failed-inspection meat, or goods with pesticide, veterinary-drug, or heavy-metal residues far over limits: up to 3 years. «Sufficient» to cause serious poisoning is enough—no need for someone to have been harmed. Adding toxic or harmful non-food substances to food: starts at up to 5 years, regardless of how much you sold.

Cost

No money. Follow item 8: keep quarantine certificates and purchase proofs; put only ingredients with traceable approval numbers on the label.

Benefit

Criminal Law Article 143 covers this tier. Food you produce or sell that doesn't meet food safety standards and is «sufficient to cause a serious food poisoning accident or other serious foodborne disease» is already an offense—up to 3 years' imprisonment or short-term detention plus a fine. Serious health harm or other serious circumstances: 3–7 years plus fine. Especially serious consequences: 7 years to life, plus fine or full property confiscation. Article 144 covers adulteration. Adding toxic or harmful non-food raw materials to food you produce or sell, or selling knowing it was adulterated: up to 5 years' imprisonment plus fine. Serious health harm or other serious circumstances: 5–10 years plus fine. Death or other especially serious circumstances: penalties under Article 141 (10 years or more, life, or death). An SPC and SPP interpretation lists what counts as «sufficient to cause serious food poisoning or other serious foodborne disease»: (1) pathogenic microbes, pesticide residues, veterinary-drug residues, biological toxins, heavy metals, or other contaminants far above limits; (2) meat or products from livestock, poultry, animals, or aquatic animals that died of disease, of unknown cause, or failed inspection and quarantine; (3) goods the state expressly bans producing or selling for disease control or similar special needs; (4) foods for special medical purposes or main and complementary foods for infants and young children whose nutrition severely fails food safety standards. Additive overuse or misuse that can cause the above outcomes is also sentenced under Article 143. What counts as «toxic or harmful non-food raw materials» is not your call: substances laws ban adding to food, and substances on lists announced by relevant State Council departments—such as banned pesticides or drugs banned for food animals. Another «other serious circumstance» under Article 144: producing or selling 100000 yuan or more but under 200000 yuan; sites at or around primary or secondary schools, childcare, or elder-care institutions; selling to minors or older people. Unlicensed pig slaughter and sales outside designated plants, when serious, may be sentenced as illegal business operation; sales of 100000 yuan or more, or illegal gains of 50000 yuan or more, count as «serious» (nationwide).

Notes

The line versus the previous three items is whether food safety itself was breached. No license, missing label items, or cure claims → fines. Diseased meat, over-limit goods, wrong additives, non-food adulteration → criminal process. The cheapest defense is still the item 8 checklist: meat only from designated slaughter plants; quarantine certificates and meat quality inspection certificates for every batch; ingredients only with traceable approval numbers. «Discount meat» and «trim of unknown origin» are where food criminal cases most often start. The original Supreme People's Court Gazette page returned 502 this round, so two provincial official reprints were cited and cross-checked word for word.

Sources · 1

1. 全国人大常委会 (2020 年修正). 刑法（第一百四十一、一百四十三、一百四十四条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808181796a636a0179…（国家法律法规数据库）；最高人民法院、最高人民检察院 (2021). 关于办理危害食品安全刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释（法释〔2021〕24 号，第一、二、五、七、九、十七、十八条，2022 年 1 月 1 日起施行）. scjg.hebei.gov.cn/info/79117（河北省市场监督管理局转载全文）、sft.ln.gov.cn/sft/ywgz/zfflgw/xzys/2525860BD0…（辽宁省司法厅转载全文，两份逐字核对一致）