A life sentence and asset seizure

A court in Gansu province, in northwest China, has sentenced Li Huifang, owner of the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, to life imprisonment for producing and selling toxic and harmful food. Chinese state media reported that she was convicted, and the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court also ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan from her personal assets. Conversions of that sum vary between outlets, with figures of about 300,000 zloty and about 61,000 euros given. The reports do not say whether the ruling can be appealed.

How the poisoning came to light

The case began in July 2025, when children at the private kindergarten began falling ill. Investigators found 247 pupils and staff with abnormally high blood lead levels, and 235 children were treated in hospital for lead poisoning after eating steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns. The principal, Zhi Jinglin, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 300,000 yuan, and the name also appears as Zhu Jinglin in some reports. Four kitchen workers received sentences of six to eight years, and the court found they had been instructed by Li and Zhi to add toxic ingredients to food served to children and staff.

Paint in the food and lead levels

Investigators said kitchen staff added inedible paint to the dishes to make them look more appealing and attract more children to the nursery. The paint was clearly labelled as unsuitable for consumption. Samples of steamed red date cakes contained 1,052 milligrams of lead per kilogram, while sausage corn buns contained 1,340 milligrams per kilogram, against China's national food safety limit of 0.5 milligrams per kilogram. Reports put the lead content of the food at about 2,000 times the safety limit. The World Health Organization says lead is particularly harmful to young children and can severely damage the brain and central nervous system.

Steamed red date cake1,052

Sausage corn bun1,340

National limit0.5

Steamed red date cake

1052 mg/kg

Sausage corn bun

1340 mg/kg

National limit

0.5 mg/kg

Data from the article text

Cover-up and bribery

A later investigation found that officials and hospital staff tried to conceal the scale of the poisoning by tampering with blood test results. Accounts differ on who was involved: one describes dozens of provincial officials, while another refers to municipal officials who accepted bribes from a nursery investor. According to the reports, those payments led to lax food safety checks at several other kindergartens. The findings place the case within a wider failure of oversight beyond the single nursery.

New rules for campus meals

China has since published national guidelines for meals served on campuses. Under the guidelines, every new batch of food must be tested before use. Flour, rice and cooking oil must be bought only from centralised procurement points, according to the reports.