Dozens of Officials Probed in Kindergarten Lead-Poisoning Scandal

An investigation into the mass lead poisoning at a kindergarten in Gansu province, Northwest China, has found that over 240 children were poisoned after the kindergarten’s director and investor deliberately added industrial pigments to food to make it look visually appealing for prospective students’ parents. The pigments used contained dangerously high levels of lead, with packaging that clearly labeled them as inedible. Despite uncertainty around whether the perpetrators were fully aware of the dangers, evidence shows the director herself had elevated lead levels, indicating she regularly consumed the tainted food as well. This scandal has led to disciplinary actions against officials who falsified medical test results and mishandled the crisis, as well as vows from provincial authorities to ensure stricter food-safety supervision moving forward. [para. 1][para. 2][para. 3]

The incident was uncovered when 247 of 251 students and 28 of 34 employees were found to have elevated blood lead levels. Immediate medical treatment was provided, and as of the report date, almost all hospitalized children had been discharged after initial treatment. The provincial government has established a special fund to cover all medical expenses and provide nutritional supplements for the affected children. In a statement, Gansu authorities expressed deep remorse and pledged zero-tolerance for wrongdoing as well as system-wide improvements in food-safety monitoring. [para. 4][para. 5][para. 6]

The probe revealed the poisoning was orchestrated by Zhu Moulin, the kindergarten director, and investor Li Moufang. Zhu had instructed the cook to purchase industrial-grade colored pigments online for 6.12 yuan ($0.85) per 100 grams from April 2024 onwards, opting for more vibrant but unsafe colors over cheaper, natural food dyes previously used. Despite explicit labeling that these pigments were “not for consumption,” staff still used them in meals, on average, six times per month from May onwards. The yellow pigment contained alarmingly high levels of lead—209.9 grams per kilogram—while food samples showed lead concentrations up to 1,340 mg/kg, grossly exceeding China’s safety standard of 0.5 micrograms per kilogram. The kindergarten shared photos and videos of brightly colored food to parent chat groups online in an effort to impress and attract new enrolments. Zhu, who also consumed the food, was found to have a blood lead level of 169.3 micrograms per liter. Police have detained six individuals in connection with producing and distributing harmful food. Investigators definitively traced the lead source to the kindergarten kitchen, ruling out any external sources such as previous environmental pollution or nearby industrial sites. [para. 7][para. 8][para. 9][para. 10][para. 11][para. 12]

Beyond the poisoning itself, the scandal exposed grave malpractice and obstruction among local health institutions. The Tianshui No. 2 People’s Hospital was found to have deliberately falsified test results by lowering high blood lead readings and failed to report clusters of poisoned children. On a higher level, the provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention mishandled blood samples, which resulted in significant underreporting of lead levels and later attempted to evade accountability. Seventeen officials, including the heads of health, education, and market-supervision bureaus, are under formal investigation for corruption and dereliction of duty, with another ten senior local officials being disciplined. The probe further revealed that the kindergarten was operating without an official license, which local authorities had overlooked, and that officials had received bribes from the investor. [para. 13][para. 14][para. 15][para. 16][para. 17][para. 18]