Li Huifang Sentenced to Life in China Nursery Lead-Poisoning Case

What changed

Li Huifang, owner of Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, China, was sentenced to life in prison after lead-tainted food sickened children and staff. The Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court confiscated 500,000 yuan of her assets; executive principal Zhi Jinglin received 15 years and a 300,000-yuan fine, while four kitchen staff received six-to-eight-year sentences.

Why it matters

This was not a minor kitchen breach. In July 2025, 247 pupils and staff had abnormally high blood lead levels, and 235 children needed treatment. Food samples contained 1,052mg/kg of lead in steamed red date cakes and 1,340mg/kg in sausage corn buns, against a national limit of 0.5mg/kg.

The court found that kitchen staff had been told to use inedible paint to make meals look more attractive and draw students to the nursery. That detail makes the case especially stark: the danger was introduced as part of the food’s presentation, not discovered in some distant supply chain.

Lead exposure is particularly dangerous for young children because it can severely damage the brain and central nervous system. The lasting health effects for the children involved remain uncertain, which makes the punishment only one part of the story.

China has since issued national campus-meal guidelines requiring every new batch of food to be tested and requiring flour, rice and cooking oil to come from centralised procurement points. Those rules could make school kitchens easier to monitor, but their effect will depend on whether they are applied consistently nationwide.