Food company officials accused of supplying hamburger patties with potential E. coli contamination to McDonald's were sentenced to probation in jail at the first trial.
Judge Jang Young-chae, exclusively for criminal 11 of the Seoul Central District Court, sentenced Moo Song, the management director of a beef patty supplier, and Moo Hwang, the plant manager of the company, to 3 years in prison and 4 years probation.
In addition, the quality management team leader was sentenced to two years in prison and four years probation, and a fine of 40 million won was imposed on companies prosecuted together in accordance with the concession rules.
Song et al. were handed over to trial on charges of distributing 63 tons of beef patties that were positive as a result of a kit test to check whether they were contaminated with E. coli.
They are also accused of selling 2,160 tons of beef patties with the Shiga toxin gene detected in PCR, a test method that amplifies DNA.