A nursery owner has received a life sentence following a scandal involving food served to children. As reported by the BBC, Li Huifang as well as five other members of staff were sentenced following the incident.
The incident started in July 2025 when a shocking 247 pupils and staff at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in China were reported to have an "abnormally high blood lead level". Preliminary reports identified levels as high as 2,000 times the legal limit.
The high lead levels were later found to have originated from the food being served in the nursery itself. It turns out that Huifang had instructed chefs at the nursery to use "inedible" paint in order to "enhance the look" of food.
The Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court found Huifang guilty of "producing and selling toxic and harmful food". As well as a life sentence, she also had the equivalent of almost $75,000 "confiscated" from her personal assets.
The Nursery Executive Principal, Zhi Jinglin, was also implicated in the plot. He ended up receiving a 15-year prison sentence, as well as being fined around $4,500. Four other members of staff who worked in the kitchen also received sentences of between six and eight years.
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The Lead Levels of the Nursery Food Is Shocking
The specific levels of lead present within the food are as follows:
- The red date cake had 1,052mg of lead per kilogram.
- The corn sausage rolls had 1,340mg of lead per kilogram.
This is much higher than China's national food safety standard limit, which sits at 0.5mg of lead per kilogram.
Following the incident, China has published some national guidelines for "the provision of meals on campuses".
Per the official website of The State Council of the People's Republic of China, the regulations are as follows, which are intended to be followed by newly mandated "full-time staff responsible for food safety management and inspection".
"Enterprises are required to purchase major ingredients such as rice, flour and oil from designated suppliers, and retain testing reports for each batch of raw materials."
They also explained that "meal preparation should be integrated into the internet-enabled transparent kitchen monitoring system, with key operational procedures publicly accessible to schools, parents and students".
