A Chinese kindergarten owner was sentenced to life imprisonment for poisoning 247 children by adding lead-laced paint to their food.

What it means

This is a Chinese criminal food-safety case, not an accident: kindergarten owner Li Huifang, who ran the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, Gansu, was sentenced to life imprisonment and five co-defendants received prison terms for deliberately mixing lead-containing paint into food served to children, poisoning 247 preschoolers. The sentence was handed down by a Chinese court on 16 October 2026 and treats the contamination as intentional adulteration under laws against producing and selling toxic or harmful food.

Accuracy & sourcesGrounded

The core claim is solid: multiple wire and international outlets (AP, BBC, SCMP, ABC) consistently report the same court sentencing, and the underlying primary source is the Chinese court's judgment against Li Huifang and her co-defendants. The main variation is the affected-child count — most say 247, while some say 'more than 200' or 230 — but the life sentence and deliberate lead-paint contamination are consistent across reports.

How new

This is current, breaking coverage of a sentence announced on 16 October 2026; no recirculation year was given.

Go deeper

• ABC News Australia (Top) — first to publish