China sentences 6 for lead-tainted kindergarten food that sickened over 200 children
Court records say the operator and principal ordered staff to add lead-containing pigment to food, poisoning more than 200 students and staff.
- On Friday, the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Heshi Peixin Kindergarten operator Li Huifang to life in prison for poisoning more than 200 students in Tianshui, Gansu province.
- In July 2025, Li and executive principal Zhu Jinglin instructed four kitchen workers to add inedible lead-containing pigments to children's food to enhance visual appeal.
- The court confiscated 500,000 yuan of Li's assets and fined Zhu 300,000 yuan , while four kitchen workers received sentences of six to eight years in prison.
- Medical reports confirmed abnormally high blood lead levels among more than 200 students and over 20 staff members, with lead exposure damaging their brains and nervous systems.
- Bruce Gordon, head of the WHO's environment department, said on Thursday that "Lead poisoning is one of the world's most serious yet overlooked environmental health threats," urging prevention.
22 Articles
22 Articles
A Chinese court has sentenced the director of a kindergarten in Gansu province to life in prison after she ordered staff to mix lead-containing food into children's meals, resulting in 247 children and 28 staff members having abnormally high levels of lead in their blood.
China has jailed a kindergarten administrator for mixing poison into food after more than 200 students were found to have high levels of lead in their blood.
The lead poisoning case at Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, Gansu Province, was given its first-instance verdict on October 16. Li Huifang, the actual person in charge, was sentenced to life imprisonment, while five others received sentences ranging from six to 15 years. Previously, Chinese state media reported that 247 children currently at the kindergarten, five children who had left, and 28 staff members had abnormal blood lead levels.
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