Overview

• Eight individuals including the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten principal and its financial backer remain detained over allegations of using industrial paint as food dye.
• The National Health Commission and other central government departments have assisted local authorities in the ongoing probe.
• Independent tests in Xi’an found 70 children with blood lead levels above the official poisoning threshold and one reading at 528 micrograms per liter.
• Investigators reported that cake and corn roll samples seized from the kindergarten contained lead concentrations more than 2,000 times the national safety limit.
• Public distrust has intensified due to sharp discrepancies in test results and a history of food and environmental safety scandals.