SHENYANG - Six people in Northeast China's Liaoning province have been given jail terms ranging from six months to two years for producing and selling bean sprouts that were grown using a toxic fertilizer.

The Intermediate People's Court in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning, revealed the sentences in a Saturday press release.

Ruan Wenming, Li Hongwei, Guo Juan and Yang Jun were sentenced to two years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan ($1,565) each, according to a verdict from the People's Court of Shenyang's economic development zone.

In another case, the Huanggu District People's Court in Shenyang sentenced Wang Changzhi to 10 months in prison and Chen Yanling to six months in prison.

Wang and Chen were also fined 20,000 yuan each.

The six were found guilty of applying urea and enrofloxacin to their bean sprouts to increase their output, according to the verdicts. Urea is a toxic chemical compound that is sometimes used in fertilizers, while enrofloxacin is an antibiotic. Both are banned for agricultural use in China.

China has made efforts to improve food safety following a wave of contamination scares.

The Henan Provincial Higher People's Court said Wednesday that it has upheld a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for a man who was convicted of "endangering public security using dangerous means" in a recent tainted pork scandal.