Chinese Dairy Executive Pleads Guilty in Tainted Milk Case

The chief executive of the now-defunct Sanlu Group, which was quickly pinpointed when the scandal over tainted milk products in China broke this past fall, has pleaded guilty to "producing and selling fake or substandard products," according to Xinhua, the official state-run media agency there. If the sentence handed down for the bad medicines scandal is any indication, then Tian Wenhua, 66, could very well face the death penalty over the melamine tainting that killed six children and sickened hundreds of thousands of others. More:

"Tian appeared with three other company executives at a court in Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province. ... Another 17 people involved in producing, selling, buying and adding melamine in raw milk have gone on trial in the last week.

... China, seeking to restore battered credibility in its food, drugs and products, is likely to pass stiff sentences if the four are convicted. ...China's Health Ministry on Wednesday promised to build a 'pre-emptive' monitoring system to stamp out the use of blacklisted non-food additives that have led to health scares involving eggs, seafoods, and sweets in recent years."

But will another execution really restore world confidence in Chinese products, from toys to pet food to toothpaste?

(Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)