Tian Wenhua, the former head of Sanlu, the first dairy company implicated in a scandal that engulfed much of the Chinese dairy industry, was sent to prison for life and fined RMB20m ($3m, €2.3m, £2m). The now collapsed Sanlu was fined RMB50m.
Two men who made and sold milk tainted with melamine, a chemical used to disguise low protein content in diluted milk, were sentenced to death.
Police prevented victims' families from attending the sentencing at the Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang, and detained others as they prepared to travel there – a common practice with Chinese authorities to prevent people from petitioning and to disrupt grassroots networks.