A northeastern Chinese school has sparked public outrage after serving students leftovers that had been stored in containers used for dog food.
Parents at Wulidianzi School in Huanren county, Liaoning province, discovered this alarming practice in the school canteen earlier this month after several students became ill and vomited after consuming the food.
When concerned parents confronted the school administration, they were permitted to view the canteen’s CCTV footage but were prohibited from recording it, according to Southern China Morning Post.
Staff of the school were observed collecting leftover food from older students in a bucket intended for feeding dogs. But minutes later, they served the same food from this bucket to younger students during their mealtime, according to Daxiang News.
“All the parents watching the surveillance video cried,” a mother was quoted as saying. “I want to ask the headmaster, you also have a kid and are you willing to let your kid eat this kind of food?”
Local authorities have established an investigative team to examine the incident. The incident has generated significant discussion on mainland social media, with users expressing strong disapproval of the school’s actions.
“They are not our enemy. They are our kids, the future of our country. How do you dare to give them such food?” said one netizen.
“Both the school and the relevant staffers should receive a severe punishment. We should let those violating the food safety rules bear an enormously high cost, otherwise they will not be deterred,” said another.
A third person said, “The school canteen’s surveillance system should be connected to the parents’ mobile phones, so they can monitor them strictly.”
Food safety incidents in educational institutions regularly appear in Chinese news.
In the previous year, a college in eastern Jiangxi province attracted nationwide attention when a student discovered a mouse head in their canteen meal. Initially, the institution claimed it was duck head, but an official investigation proved otherwise. The college administration subsequently received the most severe disciplinary action.