More than 200 children are being treated at the hospital with lead poisoning in north-west China, as the school chef used inedyya paint to decorate its food.
Eight people have been arrested after the trials, shown food samples from a kindergarten in Tianshui city of Gansu province, with a 2,000 -fold increase from the national security limit.
Overall, 233 children of pixin kindergarten had high levels of boiled red date cake and sausage corn in their blood.
According to a police statement, the school principal asked the kitchen employees to buy paints online.
But after the children fell ill, the authorities had to search for the supply that were hidden.
The statement stated that the paint was clearly marked as inherited.
A parent told the BBC that he was concerned about the long-term effects of lead toxicity on his son’s liver and digestive system.
Mr. Liu took his child to the hospital in Sheian for testing last week, when the other parents raised the alarm. His son now needs 10 days of treatment and medicine.
The Chinese state media broadcast the footage, which was said that the kitchen was with CCTV cameras in which employees were shown adding paint pigments to the food.
Investigators found that the red date cake and corn sausage rolls had 1052mg/kg and 1340mg/kg respectively, which both had more than the National Food Security Standards limit of 0.5mg/kg.
Seven others, including the principal of privately operated kindergarten and its main investor, will now be investigated on suspicion of production of toxic and harmful food.
It is not known how long the paint has been used in food, but many parents told the Chinese state media that their children have complained of stomach and leg pain and lack of appetite since March.
An investigation was initiated after raising their concerns with local authorities.
The Mayor of Tianshui, Liu Lijiang, said the incident highlighted the deficiencies and flaws in public food security supervision and the city would draw a lesson from the incident.
