Chinese police have cracked-down a crime ring that sold rat and mammal meat. According to Reuters, more than $1 million worth of meat was sold as mutton.
Chinese authorities have arrested 904 suspects for selling tainted meat products since the end of January.
The Ministry of Public Security has released a statement that the police have recently arrested 63 suspects connected to the crime ring.
The suspects are accused of purchasing rat, fox, and mink meat products that were not inspected. The meat was then coated in gelatin, red pigment, and nitrates, according to Huffington Post. The products sold for $1.6 million in Shanghai and the Jiangsu Province.
After breaking into the illegal food plant, authorities arrested a suspect, surnamed Wei, who used additives to spice up the rat and mink meat.
"Police confiscated more than 20,000 metric tons (22.046 tons) of fake or inferior meat products after breaking up illegal food plants during the nationwide operation," the ministry said.
In Anhui province, more than 15 tons of tainted pork has been confiscated. Since mid-2012, over 60 tons of tainted meat has been sold in Anhui and Fujian.
According to Reuters, food safety and environmental pollution are major problems concerning the people of China. The H7N9 bird flu outbreak plagued many consumers of poultry. After the spread, poultry sales dropped 80 percent in eastern China.
In one of Shangai's main water sources, rotting pigs were found floating in drinking water. Approximately 16,000 pigs were disposed of in the Huangpu River.
