After eating expired rice vinegar, rice full of insects, and spoiled chicken legs at kindergarten, more than 300 children were sent to hospitals in Anhui and Jiangsu last week. The latest food scandal has led to disbelief among netizens.

Over the past week, the hashtag “Kindergarten’s Use of Expired Food Exposed” (#幼儿园被曝使用过期食品#) received over 39 million views on Chinese social media site Weibo. People are not just angered about yet another food scandal – they are especially shaken because it is young children that have become the victim of contaminated and expired food.

The food scandal occurred at kindergartens Tongxin (童馨) and Dedebei (得得贝) in Wuhu, Anhui province. Both kindergartens were led by the same principal, Mrs. Liang (梁).

During an on-the-spot investigation by several parents, some serious problems were discovered with the food served at the school, which later led to at least 300 children being sent to the hospital. Nine of these children were found to have health problems and were further examined at the Nanjing Children’s Hospital.

Parents first started noticing there was something wrong at their children’s school just after mid-September, when some children complained of stomach ache and the “smelly chicken legs” they ate at school. Several parents then went to inspect the food at the school canteen themselves, and discovered their children were served substandard food, including expired rice vinegar, refrigerated meat with a 2017 expiry date, and rice full of bugs. They immediately went to the school principal for an explanation and reported the incident to the local police station.

The discovery caused a great uproar among the parents of the kindergarten pupils. Many parents were reportedly unwilling to send their children back to school.

The kindergartens’ school board soon issued an apology letter, stating that the school would comply with any investigations. They also sent out a message to parents that the school would continue to stay open, and that they would make sure that the food would meet safety requirements.

Following a news conference on Sunday, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday, September 25, that police had detained the school principal for her role in the use of expired food in the school canteens.

Online, many netizens expressed their disbelief about the umpteenth time children have become the victim of safety scandals in China. “Do we even dare to send our children to kindergartens anymore?”, a popular comment said: “Do we even dare to have children at all?”

Besides various food scandals, Chinese parents have been particularly worried after other scandals were exposed over the last year, such as the various vaccine controversies, the RYB kindergarten abuse scandal, and the scandal involving a Ctrip kindergarten where children were force-fed wasabi.

One Weibo user said: “How can people treat children like this? How would they feel if their own children would be treated like this?” Another Weibo user wondered: “How far are people willing to go to make some extra money?”

“This is not the first time children are the victim of food scandals, and it won’t be the last time either,” one Weibo user wrote: “I just hope that the concerning institutes will try their best to protect our children.”

There were also many netizens referring to health safety scandals concerning children in earlier years, writing: “The milk powder scandal, the vaccine scandal, and now infected rice full of insects. Our children must be tired already; it might be better for them to grow up as soon as possible.”

According to news reports, investigations by the China Food and Drug Administration into this matter are still ongoing. All children who have been examined at the hospital, including those who have been admitted, are currently in stable condition.

By Gabi Verberg

Follow @whatsonweibo

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.

©2018 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.