Kindergarten Poisoned 200 Children With Lead Paint

A nursery owner and five staff members received prison sentences for poisoning 247 children and staff members with lead-tainted food. Li Huifang, owner of Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, Gansu province, was sentenced to life imprisonment for producing and selling toxic food. The incident came to light in July 2025 after children fell ill, revealing abnormally high blood lead levels.

Chefs at the nursery were found to have used inedible paint to make meals look more appealing, a serious breach of food safety. Food samples from red date cakes and sausage corn buns contained lead levels vastly exceeding China's national safety standard of 0.5mg/kg. Lead poisoning is known to be particularly harmful to young children, potentially causing severe damage to the brain and central nervous system.

In addition to Li Huifang's life sentence, nursery executive principal Zhi Jinglin received 15 years, and four other kitchen staff were sentenced to six to eight years. The court heard they were instructed to add toxic ingredients. Shockingly, dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff attempted to conceal the event through bribery and tampering with test results.

In response, China has implemented new national guidelines for campus meals, requiring mandatory testing of food batches and centralized procurement for staple ingredients like flour, rice, and oil.