‘Worms inside’: kindergarten in China probed after claims they fed children maggot-infested meat, rotten fruit and vegetables
- Two staff at a kindergarten in Shandong province posted evidence online about the use of spoiled fruit and vegetables and maggot-infested meat
- The principal of the kindergarten was later caught trying to dispose of rotten food late at night
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Authorities in eastern China are investigating a kindergarten that was allegedly caught feeding children rotten food including maggot-infested meat and mouldy fruit and vegetables.
Two staff from the kindergarten in Yantai city, Shandong province, posted evidence online last week about the use of spoiled food including vegetables, maggot-filled meat, and mouldy fruit.
There were also reports that some children had been taken to hospital after eating the food. The principal of the kindergarten was allegedly caught trying to dispose of rotten food late at night on Sunday.
A video report online from inside the kindergarten showed vegetables that had gone bad, and carrion insects crawling over stored food.
“Look, there are worms inside,” an unnamed man is heard saying in the news clip by Feidian Video.
After the video went viral, local authorities announced that the principal and other staff were being questioned and a special team set up to investigate.
It was later revealed that a former teacher and cook at the kindergarten took the video and photos of rotten food and posted them online.
However, the local authority released a notice saying that the kindergarten had never used the food in the pictures and video for the children. They also pointed out that only food that passed two screening tests is allowed to be used in school meals.
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Test results from food samples taken from the school are expected to be released by Thursday.
At the time of writing, the Feidian Video news report on Weibo had been viewed nearly 4 million times, and had 5,872 comments. Many were outraged by the allegations against the kindergarten.
“If the rotten food was not being used, why did the kindergarten keep it?” one person asked online.
Another said: “What would happen if the kindergarten children and all the staff members including the principal ate the same food?”
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Food security in schools has been a sensitive issue in China, which is notorious for lax food standards.
In June, 180 children at a kindergarten in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province became sick after getting a Salmonella infection.
Earlier the same month, parents of children at a kindergarten in central China’s Hubei province were shocked after discovering that the school had been feeding students expired food.
