Butchers confess to meat scam

Six pork butchers confessed in court in Beijing on Thursday to selling nearly 1.5 tons of products made from the carcasses of sick pigs.

The Haidian district court did not deliver any verdicts on Thursday.

Prosecutors accused the six of producing and selling products that failed to meet hygiene and quarantine standards.

Sentences of up to three years were requested, Beijing Times reported on Friday.

"I never ate the meat I sold, it looked disgusting," said Lyu Jiangyong, a butcher who bought carcasses of sick pigs from illegal dealers and sold them to retailers in July 2011.

He said he processed the carcasses so that the meat looked like it came from healthy swine.

He bought contaminated pork for 2 yuan ($0.30) to 4 yuan per kg, and sold it for around 12 yuan to retailers.

Three pork retailers at the Jinxiudadi Market in Haidian district bought meat from Lyu's slaughterhouse and it was then sold to university canteens, restaurants and residents in Beijing, the report said.