China fines Sinograin for transporting cooking oil in unclean tankers

China fined state stockpiler Sinograin and six more firms a total of about 11 million yuan ($1.54 million) over the use of fuel tankers to transport cooking oil in a scandal that eroded confidence in food safety regulations, state media reported.

A report by local daily The Beijing News in July that fuel tankers had been used to transport soybean oil, cooking oil and syrup without cleaning the tankers in between, rekindled fears about food contamination.

An official investigation in the provinces of Hebei, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi found the use of unclean tankers was "extremely severe", state media Xinhua said, citing the State Council Food Safety Office, which was involved in the investigation.

The use of unclean tankers "violated basic common sense and tramples on moral bottom lines and legal red lines", said the council.

The government issued a 2.86 million yuan ($401,555.68) fine to Sinograin Oil (Tianjin) Co. Ltd and 8.18 million in fines to six other logistics and edible oil firms. Authorities also filed criminal charges against two drivers.

China has struggled to undo the damage done by a string of past food scandals, despite Beijing's best efforts in the past decade to tighten food safety controls.

The latest scandal created an uproar and prompted shoppers to turn to foreign cooking oil brands despite the higher price tag.