In a strange incident on 7th July, 2025, more than 200 kindergarten students at a private kindergarten in China's Gansu Province, northwest China, were hospitalized after having meals "decorated" with paint-like tasteless chemicals prepared by the school chef. the students were nauseated, vomiting, and dizzy, and were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals. This appalling incident has again sounded the alarm bell regarding food safety in China's schools.
What Happened and Who Is Involved According to the provincial health authorities and local media, the incident happened during lunch on July 7 at a private kindergarten whose name is not publicized in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. Employees discovered that the meal served with multicolored ornaments contained paint-like substances marked as "inedible" on the package. About 201 students, aged between 3 and 6 years, were affected. No fatalities have been reported, although some are in serious condition. Health officials confirmed that no lives were lost.
Background and History of Food‑Safety Failures China has time and again faced shocking food-safety scandals in the last two decades. From the melamine-contaminated milk scandal in 2008, which left thousands of infants hospitalized (HRW), to recent school poisonings by nitrites and illegal food suppliers, systemic regulatory flaws have continued. This fresh case, where meals were painted to decorate them, points out the vulnerability of food consumed in private kindergartens, especially in rural areas or economically underdeveloped provinces, where government control may be weak.
Impact and Broader Implications This incident has unsettled parents all over China, particularly those whose children attend private schools or rural schools with little supervision. In 2019, a Henan Province preschool poisoning incident involving an angry staff member intentionally poisoning porridge stirred a similar national outcry. Experts assert that low hygiene rates, minimal food-safety training, and cost-cutting at private schools generate unsafe environments that can harm children. The use of a non-food chemical as decoration is not only negligent, but it is representative of an overarching breakdown in institutional accountability.