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.

  • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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    8 hours ago

    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.

  • Deestan@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    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.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        8 hours ago

        Sometimes, or sometimes they get a pass based on connections. Those aren’t mutually exclusive, either; scapegoats have long been a useful political tool.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        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.

      • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        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.

  • Shotgun_Alice@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    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.

    • voxthefox@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      23 hours ago

      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.

  • CreatingMachines@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    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.

  • dan1101@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    China loves lead, gotta watch for it in Chinese toys too. I’m not anti-China but I am anti-harming people.

  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    Chef obviously never watched Chopped! If you put a non-edible element on your plate you are just asking to get sent home.

    • remon@ani.social
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      24 hours ago

      You’d be surpised by how many countries do not have a lead paint ban. Though China is one of them that does.

      • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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        23 hours ago

        It’s also a country where manufacturers do whatever the fuck they want until they get caught. Then they bribe the local officials.

          • RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz
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            19 hours ago

            Sometimes I feel like you guys think there’s two countries on earth and they have to be compared at every single turn

          • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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            20 hours ago

            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.

    • BeNotAfraid@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      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.

    • naught101@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      White house paint still had lead in it in Australia, just at much lower levels than before the ban