247 Children Poisoned: Life Sentence for Nursery Owner Who Put Lead Paint in Food
October 18, 2026 · Frisian News
A Chinese court sentenced nursery owner Li Huifang to life in prison after 247 pupils and staff tested positive for lead poisoning caused by inedible paint mixed into school meals. Food samples contained lead at 2,000 times China's national safety limit.
Food sampled from Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui contained lead at 2,000 times China's national safety limit, the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court found last week. The nursery's operator, Li Huifang, received a life sentence. Five members of staff received terms of between six and fifteen years.
In July 2025, 247 pupils and staff at the Gansu province school were found to have abnormally high blood lead levels, according to Chinese state media. Of those, 235 children required treatment for lead poisoning after eating steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns prepared in the school kitchen, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Investigators found the cakes held 1,052 milligrams of lead per kilogram and the buns 1,340 milligrams per kilogram, according to CCTV. China's national food safety limit is 0.5 milligrams per kilogram. The paint used to colour the food was clearly labelled as inedible. Kitchen staff had been instructed to add it to make meals more visually appealing and attract more pupils.
The court convicted Li of producing and selling toxic and harmful food. It also ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan (£56,200) of her personal assets, CCTV reported. Nursery executive principal Zhu Jinglin was sentenced to fifteen years and fined 300,000 yuan. Four kitchen workers received sentences of between six and eight years after the court found they had been ordered by Li and Zhu to add the toxic substances.
The World Health Organization states that lead poisoning is "particularly harmful to young children" and can "severely damage the brain and central nervous system." The day before sentencing, Bruce Gordon, head of the WHO's environment department, called lead poisoning "one of the world's most serious yet overlooked environmental health threats."
Children fell ill, blood tests traced the source, and only then did authorities act. Once investigators started work, they found that dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff had already moved to limit the damage. Chinese state media reported they tampered with blood test results and accepted bribes from a nursery investor.
The cover-up points to the structural failure. A nursery ran its kitchen with inedible paint as an ingredient. China has since issued national guidelines requiring every new food batch at campus canteens to be tested and mandating that staples such as flour, rice and cooking oil be sourced from centralised procurement points only.
New rules on paper do not answer why the existing ones failed.
Published October 18, 2026 · Frisian News