Nursery owner in China jailed for life after hundreds of children poisoned

In practice, a nursery owner and five members of her staff have been jailed after they were discovered to have poisoned more than 200 children with lead-tainted food.

Key points

• Nursery executive principal Zhi Jinglin was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 300, 00 yuan.
• In July 2025, 247 pupils and staff at the nursery were discovered to have abnormally high blood lead levels after children began falling ill.
• Food samples were afterwards identified to contain lead 2, 000 times in excess of China's national safety limit.
• Lead poisoning is "particularly harmful to young children" and can "severely damage the brain and central nervous system", according to the World Health Organization.
• The court discovered the four had been instructed by Li and Zhi to add toxic and harmful ingredients to food served to children and staff.

Li Huifang, who operated the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, in the Gansu province, was sentenced to life in prison for producing and selling toxic and harmful food, according to Chinese state media.

Notably, a report into the incident discovered that chefs at Heshi Peixin had employed inedible paint to "enhance the look" of its meals to attract more students – despite the paint being being clearly marked as such.

Along with the sentence, the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court additionally ordered the confiscation of 500, 000 yuan (£56, 200; $74, 700) of Li's personal assets, state broadcaster CCTV noted.

Four other members of staff who worked in the nursery's kitchen received sentences of between six to eight years, according to state media.

For context, the court discovered the four had been instructed by Li and Zhi to add toxic and harmful ingredients to food served to children and staff.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the poisoning began after 235 children from Heshi Peixin nursery had to be treated for lead poisoning after eating steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns.

Investigators discovered that the red date cake and the corn sausage rolls had lead levels of 1052mg/kg and 1340mg/kg respectively, both of which far exceed the national food safety standard limit of 0.5mg/kg.

Authorities afterwards discovered that dozens of provincial office-holders and hospital staff attempted to cover up the incident by tampering with blood tests and accepting bribes from a nursery investor.

China has since published a set of national guidelines for the provision of meals on campuses. Among the measures is the requirement for every new batch of food to be tested, and for flour, rice and cooking oil to be purchased from centralised procurement points only.

In short, nursery owner in China jailed for life after hundreds of children poisoned is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.