Officials tried to cover up lead poisoning in China that left hundreds of nursery-age children sick
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Dozens of Chinese officials and hospital staff attempted to cover up a lead poisoning case that made hundreds of children sick, an official investigation has found.
The officials tampered with the blood tests of students who were poisoned at Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui city, north-west China, authorities said in a report on Sunday.
City officials were also found to have accepted bribes from an investor in Peixin while overlooking food safety inspections across multiple pre-schools, the report said.
In a bizarre attempt to attract more kindergarten students, chefs at Peixin had used inedible paint to ‘enhance the look’ of its mealsm the report added.
A fortnight ago, investigators found ‘abnormal’ levels of lead in the blood of 235 children. Food samples were later found to contain lead 2,000 times in excess of the national safety limit.
Initially, eight people were detained for their involvement in producing the toxic date cakes and corn rolls.
The report confirmed that of the eight detained, six of them – including the kindergarten’s principal, cooks, and an investor – have been arrested.
Ten other officials are set to face ‘formal accounting procedures’ while another 17 people are under disciplinary action.
Officials tampered with the blood tests of students who were poisoned at Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui city, north-west China , authorities said in a report on Sunday Pictured: A photo provided by the kindergarten to parents shows bright yellow corn rolls and stir-fried vegetables
Authorities in Tianshui revealed on July 8 that 235 children from the privately-owned kindergarten were being treated in hospital after eating the poisonous snacks.
The cake, served at breakfast, returned a reading of 1,052 milligrams of lead per kilogram and the roll, served at another meal, was found with 1,340 milligrams per kilogram.
The nationwide limit for lead in wheat and starch is 0.5 milligrams per kilogram, according to Chinese government records.
A parent told state-run Jimu News tabloid last week that children had been experiencing stomach pain and nausea, and that some of their teeth turned black.
On Sunday, 234 of them had been discharged.
The Gansu Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was ordered to test 267 students and staff at Peixin after some showed symptoms of lead poisoning earlier this month, but officials ‘did not take the work seriously’, the report stated.
The person in charge of the tests ‘seriously violated operating procedures, which distorted the results’, according to the report.
Sunday’s report named several people under investigation and revealed the lead concentrations found in various food samples, among other details.
It also accused staff at the Tianshui No. 2 People’s Hospital of ‘serious dereliction of duty’ and described the institution’s management of the case as ‘chaotic’.
Authorities in Tianshui have also announced that children suffering from lead poisoning can receive free treatment at designated hospitals and legal assistance will be made available to affected families.
Peixin will be temporarily managed by a state-owned kindergarten.
Food safety scandals were once common in China, where tainted milk formula made hundreds of thousands of babies ill in 2008 and was linked to six deaths.
