China nursery owner jailed for life over lead-tainted meals

A nursery owner in China's Gansu province has been sentenced to life in prison for producing and selling toxic food after meals containing lead-tainted paint poisoned children. BBC News, citing Chinese state media, reported that Li Huifang, who operated Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, was jailed alongside five staff members.

The Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court found that Li and executive principal Zhi Jinglin instructed four kitchen workers to put toxic ingredients into food served to pupils and staff. An investigation found that the paint was used to make meals more visually attractive and draw more children to the nursery, even though it was clearly labelled as inedible.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the court also ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan of Li's personal assets. Zhi received a 15-year prison sentence, while the four kitchen workers were sentenced to between six and eight years.

Lead levels far above the food safety limit

The poisoning investigation began after 235 children required treatment following meals that included steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns. In July 2025, testing found abnormally high blood lead levels in 247 pupils and staff at the nursery.

Investigators measured lead concentrations of 1,052 milligrams per kilogram in the red date cake and 1,340 milligrams per kilogram in the sausage corn rolls. China's national food safety limit cited in the report was 0.5 milligrams per kilogram.

Young children are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can cause severe damage to the brain and central nervous system, according to the World Health Organization.

Reported cover-up and tighter meal rules

Officials subsequently found that dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff had attempted to conceal the poisoning through blood-test tampering and the acceptance of bribes from a nursery investor, according to the reporting. Those findings are separate from the court's reported sentences for the nursery owner and employees.

China has since issued national guidelines for campus meals. The measures include testing every new batch of food and requiring flour, rice and cooking oil to be bought only through centralised procurement points.