Latest news with #HeshiPeixinKindergarten
CNN
11-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
A case of children with high lead levels in China is spotlights a public trust gap
A case in which more than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels is revealing a deep distrust in local government, as members of the public question the findings of an official investigation. Authorities in the city of Tianshui in China's Gansu province earlier this week said eight people, including the principal of the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten, had been detained after an investigation found 233 students had been exposed to lead after school kitchen staff used inedible paint containing the toxic substance as food coloring. The case initially generated new outrage in a country long plagued by food and environmental safety scandals. But in the days since it has also become a lightning rod for public mistrust of official handling of such cases, in a system where there are few independent checks and officials are under pressure to resolve issues quickly. Among the most glaring examples is the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in central China's Wuhan, when local authorities detained supposed 'rumormongers' who had tried to warn of the spread of a virus in the city as officials downplayed the outbreak. On social media, many are questioning the credibility of the government report and aspects of the state media coverage. Some discussion appears to have been censored online in China's tightly controlled media environment, though other articles exploring the situation remain active. One mother in the city, whose child does not attend the school that's been at the center of the official investigation, described to CNN mistrust among local families about the government's findings. 'All the parents think (food is not the actual source of the lead poisoning). But we don't know the exact reasons … how are we supposed to know anything?' the mother, who declined to be identified due to concerns about local government retaliation, told CNN in a phone interview. 'Ordinary folks like us probably have no clue – only the government knows what's really going on,' she said. CNN has repeatedly tried to contact the Tianshui government for comment and has also reached out to China's State Council Information Office by fax. The government in its Tuesday report said the investigation was on-going and that officials from the National Health Commission and other central government departments had helped with the probe. Among key concerns raised in online discussion are what reports suggest are serious discrepancies between the results of blood tests conducted in Tianshui and those that came back from hospitals in Xi'an, a city in a neighboring province, where some parents took their children to be tested. The Tianshui test results were never publicly disclosed. One mother of a student at the kindergarten said a local department in Tianshui told her the blood levels of her child were normal, but a hospital in Xi'an later found her child's blood lead levels were 528 micrograms per liter, according to a report published by China National Radio (CNR). China's official guidelines classify this as 'severe lead poisoning.' Reports from state-affiliated media found that 70 children who were tested in Xi'an had blood lead levels surpassing the threshold of lead poisoning, with six of those cases exceeding 450 micrograms per liter. A full picture of the results from all the students with abnormal levels was not publicly available. In the investigation report, local authorities said they had conducted sampling investigations at the kindergarten and three affiliated schools and tested food samples, water, outdoor soil and other supplies and equipment. Two food samples – of cake and a corn roll – at the kindergarten, were found to have lead levels more than 2,000 times the national food safety standard for contamination. But that didn't quell questions. 'The children only eat three-color jujube steamed cake and corn sausage rolls once or twice a week, how could they be poisoned so seriously?' one mother, who gave her surname Wu, told CNR. Independent blogs online looking into the case have garnered tens of thousands of views. Some discussion appears to have been censored online in China's tightly controlled media environment, though other articles exploring the situation remain active. Some of these accounts raised questions including about why the school, which authorities said used the paint to 'attract more enrollment and increase revenue,' wouldn't have just used simple food coloring, which ecommerce sites show is generally cheaper than industrial pigment. Others raised questions about the credibility of an edited closed-circuit video released by state media alleging to show use of the coloring in the kindergarten's kitchen. Local concerns were also fueled by memory of a 2006 lead poisoning scandal in the same district of Tianshui. Then, over 200 villagers were found to have high levels of lead in their blood during tests conducted outside Tianshui city, according to a state media commentary on the incident published at the time. The source of that lead poisoning case was never officially disclosed. The current case has caught the attention of prominent figures in China's online ecosystem, including Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of state-affiliated media outlet Global Times. 'Questions about environmental pollution are valid, but those raising such concerns need to maintain objectivity in their analysis and should not treat these associative doubts as urgent alarms to spread in society,' Hu wrote on China's X-like social media platform Weibo on Wednesday. But, he also added it was 'key for authorities providing ample information to strengthen public trust.' Professor Stuart Khan, head of the University of Sydney's School of Civil Engineering, told CNN that blood lead level concentrations as high as those cited by state media reports about this case would 'typically require regular exposure for several weeks to months, unless there is a very acute poisoning episode' and that levels can rise progressively with 'continuous environmental exposure.' Potential sources of contamination, such as food, soil or water, could be ruled out by conducting assessments in the broader community and family members of the children to identify who is predominately affected, said Khan, who is not involved in this case. Lead poisoning used to be a more widespread issue in China. In 2010, the central government for the first time allocated special funds for heavy metal pollution prevention in response to at least 12 high-profile cases the previous year that left more than 4,000 people with elevated blood lead levels, according to state media.
RNZ News
10-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
More than 200 children found with high lead levels after kindergarten in China uses paint as food colouring, authorities say
File photo. Photo: Photo / 123RF By Simone McCarthy and Joyce Jiang , CNN More than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels after kitchen staff used paint as food colouring, authorities said, in a case that's stoked outrage in a country long plagued by food safety scandals. Eight people, including the principal of the private kindergarten that the children attended, have been detained "on suspicion of producing toxic and harmful food," according to a report released Tuesday by Tianshui city government, as cited by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The principal and a financial backer of the school had allowed kitchen staff at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten to use paint pigments to colour the children's food, leading to contamination, according to the report, which followed a days-long but ongoing probe into the cases. Of the 251 students enrolled at the kindergarten, 233 were found to have abnormal levels of lead in their blood, the report found. The children were undergoing medical treatment with 201 of them currently in hospital, authorities said. Medical evaluation on the effects of their exposure, which can cause long-term and developmental harm, were not yet made public. Local media cited a paediatrics professor as saying aspects of the case suggest there could be chronic lead poisoning, meaning exposure over a period of more than three months. During the investigation, two food samples from the kindergarten - a red date steamed breakfast cake and a sausage corn roll - were found to have lead levels more than 2,000 times the national food safety standard for contamination, according to figures cited in the investigation report. The paint was also seized by authorities and found to contain lead - and the packaging was clearly labelled as non-edible, the report said. Tianshui's top law enforcement official told CCTV that the principal and his investor had aimed to "attract more enrolment and increase revenue" with the colourful food. CNN has reached out to Heshi Peixin Kindergarten several times for comment. Authorities said they launched the probe on 1 July after becoming aware of reports that children at the school had abnormal blood lead levels. Lead exposure in children can lead to severe consequences, including impacting children's brain development, behaviour and IQ. The government report did not disclose how long the exposure had gone on, with some affected parents interviewed by state media saying they had noticed abnormal signs in their children's health and behaviour for months - and clamoring for more answers about how the exposure happened. "My mind went blank," a mother of one affected student told state media after learning from a hospital in another city that her child had a blood lead level of 528 micrograms per litre - a revelation that came after she said a local department in Tianshui told her the blood levels were normal, according to a report published by outlet China National Radio (CNR). China's National Health Agency classifies "severe lead poisoning" as anything above 450 micrograms per litre. The case has raised all-too-familiar concerns in China about food safety as well as the levels of transparency with which such cases are handled - especially in a system where independent journalism is tightly controlled and officials are under pressure to resolve issues quickly. Earlier this month, after the school conducted tests on the students but did not issue individual results, many parents took their children to Xi'an - a major city a roughly four-hour drive from Tianshui - for testing, according to a report published by a news outlet affiliated with the official People's Daily. "Right now, I'm not thinking about compensation - I just want my child to be healthy," she was quoted as saying. Reports from state-affiliated media found that 70 children who were tested in Xi'an had blood lead levels surpassing the threshold of lead poisoning, with six of those cases exceeding 450 micrograms per liter. According to China's official guidelines, this level is classified as "severe". A full picture of the results from all the students with abnormal levels was not publicly available. One mother told the People's Daily-affiliated outlet that she had been confused by her daughter's constant stomach aches, loss of appetite and behavioural changes over the past six months, which didn't improve after treating her with traditional Chinese medicine. Others expressed skepticism about the results of the official investigation. "The children only eat three-colour jujube steamed cake and corn sausage rolls once or twice a week, how could they be poisoned so seriously?" one mother, who gave her surname Wu, told CNR. "If something like this happened to the children in school, at least give us an explanation. Now there is nothing." Earlier this week, Tianshui's mayor Liu Lijiang said the city would "do everything possible to ensure the children's treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up protection," while vowing to close "loopholes" in Tianshui's public food safety supervision. The case has led to widespread expressions of outrage across Chinese social media, the latest among dozens of high-profile scandals have been reported by local media since the early 2000s. "Serious accountability must be maintained and food safety issues cannot be ignored or slacked off. When it involves the life safety of young children, severe punishment must be imposed," wrote one commentator on the X-like platform Weibo. "Children are the hope of a family. I hope they can recover soon and grow up healthily," said another. Past scandals have also impacted children. In one of the most egregious examples, six infants died and some 300,000 others were sickened by milk powder formula containing the toxic industrial chemical melamine. Several executives found to be responsible for the 2008 case were ultimately handed death sentences, and the tragedy drove deep mistrust of domestic products and food safety in China. Lead poisoning used to be a more widespread issue in China. In 2010, the central government for the first time allocated special funds for heavy metal pollution prevention in response to at least 12 high-profile cases the previous year that left more than 4,000 people with elevated blood lead levels, according to state media. Officials have also moved to tighten food safety regulations in recent years, but pervasive cases have shown more needs to be done in terms of enforcement and to build back public trust, experts say. Improving the food regulatory system calls for "more transparency, more thorough investigation of food safety cases," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and author of the book Toxic Politics: China's Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State. Huang also said a lack of public confidence in the safety systems could evolve into a "trust crisis". - CNN
CNN
09-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
More than 200 children found with high lead levels after kindergarten in China uses paint as food coloring, authorities say
More than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels after kitchen staff used paint as food coloring, authorities said, in a case that's stoked outrage in a country long plagued by food safety scandals. Eight people, including the principal of the private kindergarten that the children attended, have been detained 'on suspicion of producing toxic and harmful food,' according to a report released Tuesday by Tianshui city government, as cited by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The principal and a financial backer of the school had allowed kitchen staff at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten to use paint pigments to color the children's food, leading to contamination, according to the report, which followed a days-long but ongoing probe into the cases. Of the 251 students enrolled at the kindergarten, 233 were found to have abnormal levels of lead in their blood, the report found. The children were undergoing medical treatment with 201 of them currently in hospital, authorities said. Medical evaluation on the effects of their exposure, which can cause long-term and developmental harm, were not yet made public. Local media cited a pediatrics professor as saying aspects of the case suggest there could be chronic lead poisoning, meaning exposure over a period of more than three months. During the investigation, two food samples from the kindergarten – a red date steamed breakfast cake and a sausage corn roll – were found to have lead levels more than 2,000 times the national food safety standard for contamination, according to figures cited in the investigation report. The paint was also seized by authorities and found to contain lead – and the packaging was clearly labeled as non-edible, the report said. Tianshui's top law enforcement official told CCTV that the principal and his investor had aimed to 'attract more enrollment and increase revenue' with the colorful food. CNN has reached out to Heshi Peixin Kindergarten several times for comment. Authorities said they launched the probe on July 1 after becoming aware of reports that children at the school had abnormal blood lead levels. Lead exposure in children can lead to severe consequences, including impacting children's brain development, behavior and IQ. The government report did not disclose how long the exposure had gone on, with some affected parents interviewed by state media saying they had noticed abnormal signs in their children's health and behavior for months – and clamoring for more answers about how the exposure happened. 'My mind went blank,' a mother of one affected student told state media after learning from a hospital in another city that her child had a blood lead level of 528 micrograms per liter – a revelation that came after she said a local department in Tianshui told her the blood levels were normal, according to a report published by outlet China National Radio (CNR). China's National Health Agency classifies 'severe lead poisoning' as anything above 450 micrograms per liter. 'Right now, I'm not thinking about compensation – I just want my child to be healthy,' she was quoted as saying. The case has raised all-too-familiar concerns in China about food safety as well as the levels of transparency with which such cases are handled – especially in a system where independent journalism is tightly controlled and officials are under pressure to resolve issues quickly. Earlier this month, after the school conducted tests on the students but did not issue individual results, many parents took their children to Xi'an – a major city a roughly four-hour drive from Tianshui – for testing, according to a report published by a news outlet affiliated with the official People's Daily. Reports from state-affiliated media found that 70 children who were tested in Xi'an had blood lead levels surpassing the threshold of lead poisoning, with six of those cases exceeding 450 micrograms per liter. According to China's official guidelines, this level is classified as 'severe.' A full picture of the results from all the students with abnormal levels was not publicly available. One mother told the People's Daily-affiliated outlet that she had been confused by her daughter's constant stomach aches, loss of appetite and behavioral changes over the past six months, which didn't improve after treating her with traditional Chinese medicine. Others expressed skepticism about the results of the official investigation. 'The children only eat three-color jujube steamed cake and corn sausage rolls once or twice a week, how could they be poisoned so seriously?' one mother, who gave her surname Wu, told CNR. 'If something like this happened to the children in school, at least give us an explanation. Now there is nothing.' Earlier this week, Tianshui's mayor Liu Lijiang said the city would 'do everything possible to ensure the children's treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up protection,' while vowing to close 'loopholes' in Tianshui's public food safety supervision. The case has led to widespread expressions of outrage across Chinese social media, the latest among dozens of high-profile scandals have been reported by local media since the early 2000s. 'Serious accountability must be maintained and food safety issues cannot be ignored or slacked off. When it involves the life safety of young children, severe punishment must be imposed,' wrote one commentator on the X-like platform Weibo. 'Children are the hope of a family. I hope they can recover soon and grow up healthily,' said another. Past scandals have also impacted children. In one of the most egregious examples, six infants died and some 300,000 others were sickened by milk powder formula containing the toxic industrial chemical melamine. Several executives found to be responsible for the 2008 case were ultimately handed death sentences, and the tragedy drove deep mistrust of domestic products and food safety in China. Lead poisoning used to be a more widespread issue in China. In 2010, the central government for the first time allocated special funds for heavy metal pollution prevention in response to at least 12 high-profile cases the previous year that left more than 4,000 people with elevated blood lead levels, according to state media. Officials have also moved to tighten food safety regulations in recent years, but pervasive cases have shown more needs to be done in terms of enforcement and to build back public trust, experts say. Improving the food regulatory system calls for 'more transparency, more thorough investigation of food safety cases,' said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and author of the book 'Toxic Politics: China's Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State.' Huang also said a lack of public confidence in the safety systems could evolve into a 'trust crisis.'
CNN
09-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
More than 200 children found with high lead levels after kindergarten in China uses paint as food coloring, authorities say
More than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels after kitchen staff used paint as food coloring, authorities said, in a case that's stoked outrage in a country long plagued by food safety scandals. Eight people, including the principal of the private kindergarten that the children attended, have been detained 'on suspicion of producing toxic and harmful food,' according to a report released Tuesday by Tianshui city government, as cited by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The principal and a financial backer of the school had allowed kitchen staff at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten to use paint pigments to color the children's food, leading to contamination, according to the report, which followed a days-long but ongoing probe into the cases. Of the 251 students enrolled at the kindergarten, 233 were found to have abnormal levels of lead in their blood, the report found. The children were undergoing medical treatment with 201 of them currently in hospital, authorities said. Medical evaluation on the effects of their exposure, which can cause long-term and developmental harm, were not yet made public. Local media cited a pediatrics professor as saying aspects of the case suggest there could be chronic lead poisoning, meaning exposure over a period of more than three months. During the investigation, two food samples from the kindergarten – a red date steamed breakfast cake and a sausage corn roll – were found to have lead levels more than 2,000 times the national food safety standard for contamination, according to figures cited in the investigation report. Buckets containing the paint were also seized by authorities and found to contain lead – and were clearly labeled as non-edible products, the report said. Tianshui's top law enforcement official told CCTV that the principal and his investor had aimed to 'attract more enrollment and increase revenue' with the colorful food. CNN has reached out to Heshi Peixin Kindergarten several times for comment. Authorities said they launched the probe on July 1 after becoming aware of reports that children at the school had abnormal blood lead levels. Lead exposure in children can lead to severe consequences, including impacting children's brain development, behavior and IQ. The government report did not disclose how long the exposure had gone on, with some affected parents interviewed by state media saying they had noticed abnormal signs in their children's health and behavior for months – and clamoring for more answers about how the exposure happened. 'My mind went blank,' a mother of one affected student told state media after learning from a hospital in a nearby city that her child had a blood lead level of 528 micrograms per liter – a revelation that came after she said a local department in Tianshui told her the blood levels were normal, according to a report published by outlet China National Radio (CNR). China's National Health Agency classifies 'severe lead poisoning' as anything above 450 micrograms per liter. 'Right now, I'm not thinking about compensation – I just want my child to be healthy,' she was quoted as saying. The case has raised all-too-familiar concerns in China about food safety as well as the levels of transparency with which such cases are handled – especially in a system where independent journalism is tightly controlled and officials are under pressure to resolve issues quickly. Earlier this month, after the school conducted tests on the students but did not issue individual results, many parents took their children to Xi'an – a major city a roughly four-hour drive from Tianshui – for testing, according to a report published by a news outlet affiliated with the official People's Daily. Reports from state-affiliated media found that 70 children who were tested in Xi'an had blood lead levels surpassing the threshold of lead poisoning, with six of those cases exceeding 450 micrograms per liter. According to China's official guidelines, this level is classified as 'severe.' A full picture of the results from all the students with abnormal levels was not publicly available. One mother told the People's Daily-affiliated outlet that she had been confused by her daughter's constant stomach aches, loss of appetite and behavioral changes over the past six months, which didn't improve after treating her with traditional Chinese medicine. Others expressed skepticism about the results of the official investigation. 'The children only eat three-color jujube steamed cake and corn sausage rolls once or twice a week, how could they be poisoned so seriously?' one mother, who gave her surname Wu, told CNR. 'If something like this happened to the children in school, at least give us an explanation. Now there is nothing.' Earlier this week, Tianshui's mayor Liu Lijiang said the city would 'do everything possible to ensure the children's treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up protection,' while vowing to close 'loopholes' in Tianshui's public food safety supervision. The case has led to widespread expressions of outrage across Chinese social media, the latest among dozens of high-profile scandals have been reported by local media since the early 2000s. 'Serious accountability must be maintained and food safety issues cannot be ignored or slacked off. When it involves the life safety of young children, severe punishment must be imposed,' wrote one commentator on the X-like platform Weibo. 'Children are the hope of a family. I hope they can recover soon and grow up healthily,' said another. Past scandals have also impacted children. In one of the most egregious examples, six infants died and some 300,000 others were sickened by milk powder formula containing the toxic industrial chemical melamine. Several executives found to be responsible for the 2008 case were ultimately handed death sentences, and the tragedy drove deep mistrust of domestic products and food safety in China. Lead poisoning used to be a more widespread issue in China. In 2010, the central government for the first time allocated special funds for heavy metal pollution prevention in response to at least 12 high-profile cases the previous year that left more than 4,000 people with elevated blood lead levels, according to state media. Officials have also moved to tighten food safety regulations in recent years, but pervasive cases have shown more needs to be done in terms of enforcement and to build back public trust, experts say. Improving the food regulatory system calls for 'more transparency, more thorough investigation of food safety cases,' said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and author of the book 'Toxic Politics: China's Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State.' Huang also said a lack of public confidence in the safety systems could evolve into a 'trust crisis.'
CNN
09-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
More than 200 children found with high lead levels after kindergarten in China uses paint as food coloring, authorities say
More than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels after kitchen staff used paint as food coloring, authorities said, in a case that's stoked outrage in a country long plagued by food safety scandals. Eight people, including the principal of the private kindergarten that the children attended, have been detained 'on suspicion of producing toxic and harmful food,' according to a report released Tuesday by Tianshui city government, as cited by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The principal and a financial backer of the school had allowed kitchen staff at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten to use paint pigments to color the children's food, leading to contamination, according to the report, which followed a days-long but ongoing probe into the cases. Of the 251 students enrolled at the kindergarten, 233 were found to have abnormal levels of lead in their blood, the report found. The children were undergoing medical treatment with 201 of them currently in hospital, authorities said. Medical evaluation on the effects of their exposure, which can cause long-term and developmental harm, were not yet made public. Local media cited a pediatrics professor as saying aspects of the case suggest there could be chronic lead poisoning, meaning exposure over a period of more than three months. During the investigation, two food samples from the kindergarten – a red date steamed breakfast cake and a sausage corn roll – were found to have lead levels more than 2,000 times the national food safety standard for contamination, according to figures cited in the investigation report. Buckets containing the paint were also seized by authorities and found to contain lead – and were clearly labeled as non-edible products, the report said. Tianshui's top law enforcement official told CCTV that the principal and his investor had aimed to 'attract more enrollment and increase revenue' with the colorful food. CNN has reached out to Heshi Peixin Kindergarten several times for comment. Authorities said they launched the probe on July 1 after becoming aware of reports that children at the school had abnormal blood lead levels. Lead exposure in children can lead to severe consequences, including impacting children's brain development, behavior and IQ. The government report did not disclose how long the exposure had gone on, with some affected parents interviewed by state media saying they had noticed abnormal signs in their children's health and behavior for months – and clamoring for more answers about how the exposure happened. 'My mind went blank,' a mother of one affected student told state media after learning from a hospital in a nearby city that her child had a blood lead level of 528 micrograms per liter – a revelation that came after she said a local department in Tianshui told her the blood levels were normal, according to a report published by outlet China National Radio (CNR). China's National Health Agency classifies 'severe lead poisoning' as anything above 450 micrograms per liter. 'Right now, I'm not thinking about compensation – I just want my child to be healthy,' she was quoted as saying. The case has raised all-too-familiar concerns in China about food safety as well as the levels of transparency with which such cases are handled – especially in a system where independent journalism is tightly controlled and officials are under pressure to resolve issues quickly. Earlier this month, after the school conducted tests on the students but did not issue individual results, many parents took their children to Xi'an – a major city a roughly four-hour drive from Tianshui – for testing, according to a report published by a news outlet affiliated with the official People's Daily. Reports from state-affiliated media found that 70 children who were tested in Xi'an had blood lead levels surpassing the threshold of lead poisoning, with six of those cases exceeding 450 micrograms per liter. According to China's official guidelines, this level is classified as 'severe.' A full picture of the results from all the students with abnormal levels was not publicly available. One mother told the People's Daily-affiliated outlet that she had been confused by her daughter's constant stomach aches, loss of appetite and behavioral changes over the past six months, which didn't improve after treating her with traditional Chinese medicine. Others expressed skepticism about the results of the official investigation. 'The children only eat three-color jujube steamed cake and corn sausage rolls once or twice a week, how could they be poisoned so seriously?' one mother, who gave her surname Wu, told CNR. 'If something like this happened to the children in school, at least give us an explanation. Now there is nothing.' Earlier this week, Tianshui's mayor Liu Lijiang said the city would 'do everything possible to ensure the children's treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up protection,' while vowing to close 'loopholes' in Tianshui's public food safety supervision. The case has led to widespread expressions of outrage across Chinese social media, the latest among dozens of high-profile scandals have been reported by local media since the early 2000s. 'Serious accountability must be maintained and food safety issues cannot be ignored or slacked off. When it involves the life safety of young children, severe punishment must be imposed,' wrote one commentator on the X-like platform Weibo. 'Children are the hope of a family. I hope they can recover soon and grow up healthily,' said another. Past scandals have also impacted children. In one of the most egregious examples, six infants died and some 300,000 others were sickened by milk powder formula containing the toxic industrial chemical melamine. Several executives found to be responsible for the 2008 case were ultimately handed death sentences, and the tragedy drove deep mistrust of domestic products and food safety in China. Lead poisoning used to be a more widespread issue in China. In 2010, the central government for the first time allocated special funds for heavy metal pollution prevention in response to at least 12 high-profile cases the previous year that left more than 4,000 people with elevated blood lead levels, according to state media. Officials have also moved to tighten food safety regulations in recent years, but pervasive cases have shown more needs to be done in terms of enforcement and to build back public trust, experts say. Improving the food regulatory system calls for 'more transparency, more thorough investigation of food safety cases,' said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and author of the book 'Toxic Politics: China's Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State.' Huang also said a lack of public confidence in the safety systems could evolve into a 'trust crisis.'
