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World

Kindergarten owner jailed for life over lead poisoning of 233 children in Gansu

Li Huifang, owner of the Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after staff laced children's meals with lead paint, poisoning 233 of the school's 251 pupils.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 1 min read

The owner of a kindergarten in Gansu province has been jailed for life after 233 children were poisoned with lead that canteen staff mixed into their food, in China’s worst food-safety scandal in almost two decades.

The Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Li Huifang, owner of the Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, to life imprisonment on Friday and ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan of her personal assets for making or selling harmful foodstuffs.

Principal Zhu Jinglin was jailed for 15 years and fined 300,000 yuan. Four canteen workers — Niu Aiyuan, Wen Yafang, He Xuxia and An Chunling — received between six and eight years plus fines.

The scandal emerged in July last year when tests showed 233 of the kindergarten’s 251 children had abnormal blood lead levels. Police said staff bought decorative paint online — clearly marked not safe for consumption — with the consent of Li and Zhu, diluted it and added it to meals to make them look more colourful. Food samples contained lead at more than 2,000 times the national safe limit.

The case has drawn comparisons with the 2008 melamine crisis, when some 300,000 children were poisoned after suppliers tainted powdered milk. The People’s Daily said on Saturday there would be “zero tolerance” for acts harming public health.

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