More than 200 children are being treated in hospital with lead poisoning in north-west China after school chefs used inedible paint to decorate their food.
Eight people have been arrested after tests showed the food samples from a kindergarten in Tianshui City in Gansu province had lead levels that were 2,000 times over the national safety limit.
In total, 233 children from Peixin Kindergarten had high levels of lead in their blood after eating steamed red date cake and sausage corn bun.
Yeah, if you’re looking at food in China, there’s a real argument to avoid anything artificial-seeming because of incidents like this. I’m told it’s part of the reason why wet markets are so popular - there’s no doubt if your meat is real and unadulterated when you just saw it running around.
The school principal asked the kitchen staff to buy the paint online
officers had to search for the supplies which had been hidden.
The paint was clearly marked as inedible
I’m amazed if a single person employed at this school is not going to prison.
Sometimes China executes people for stuff like this.
Sometimes, or sometimes they get a pass based on connections. Those aren’t mutually exclusive, either; scapegoats have long been a useful political tool.
If there were a crime which deserved the death penalty (there isn’t), intentionally poisoning more than 200 children would be it. It’s technically possible that they’re really negligent and stupid, but hiding the paint was definitely intentional and probably caused additional harm by delaying treatment.
good.
it’s rare I give praise to China, this is probably the first and only time.
you would think if people were afraid of losing their own lives, shit like this would stop. unfortunately China (and all of Asia really) has a culture problem with “just following orders” even at the detriment of their own lives.
PRESCHOOL? PRESCHOOL? I’M NOT A FAN OF NON-EDIBLE ORNAMENTS ON MY MEALS AND I’M ALMOST 30.
It actually sounds like they were straight up using normal paint as food colouring.
Lead paint.
You know, I was kind of expecting like some sort of poisonous vegetable or fruit that was put on as a garnish. I was not expecting lead fucking paint.
I mean you might still be right. The lead paint was probably being used to hide the subpar or rotting vegetable/fruits they were trying to serve them, your first instinct isn’t to just paint vegetables unless there’s something else your trying to hide.
Legitimately wtf
Yes, that’s exactly what I expected, too. What actually happened is truly baffling on multiple levels. Why???
It is not known how long the paint has been used in the food, but several parents told Chinese state media that their children have been complaining of stomach and leg pain and a lack of appetite since March.
China loves lead, gotta watch for it in Chinese toys too. I’m not anti-China but I am anti-harming people.
Chef obviously never watched Chopped! If you put a non-edible element on your plate you are just asking to get sent home.
Slightly less related, but what modern day paint has lead in it?
White house paint still had lead in it in Australia, just at much lower levels than before the ban
You’d be surpised by how many countries do not have a lead paint ban. Though China is one of them that does.
It’s also a country where manufacturers do whatever the fuck they want until they get caught. Then they bribe the local officials.
Like the US you mean?
Sometimes I feel like you guys think there’s two countries on earth and they have to be compared at every single turn
If we’re going to ignore the degree of the issue, then I guess the PRC is just like every other country in the world.
Road signs, like Stop signs, Yield signs. They all use lead as a primary ingredient, I think Chromium is the other metal they use. It’s durable and the Matte-Metallic finish makes the sign easy to read in all lightings. You can still get lead as an additive to oil-based paints, but it’s heavily restricted. You’d have to have a specific use case to import it, it’s called flake white. Metal additives change the texture and reflective properties of the paint, lead is mostly swapped out for zinc and titanium now though.
My first thought: wow, the PPE for the people making road signs must be so involved!
My second thought: unfortunately, probably not at all.
Holy fucking fuck what
Sugar of Lead, chef’s kiss and sorry children
