Shanghai Revokes Licenses of School Meal Supplier over Food Scandal, 8 Arrested

Shanghai has arrested eight people and is set to revoke the licenses of a school meal supplier over a food scandal involving contaminated shrimps provided to students, an investigation task force announced in a statement today.

The incident came to light on September 15 after parents reported problems with a "shrimp and egg stir-fry" dish provided by Shanghai Lujie Industrial Development Co Ltd, also known as Green Express in English, to local schools.

Investigators determined that a cook and a manager deployed by the company to a Jing'an District primary school failed to wash the shrimp after taking them out of the refrigerator and began cooking.

They found two worms in the shrimp and reported it to the company's actual controller, surnamed Zhang. Instead of reporting the contamination, Zhang ordered the destruction of all shrimp sent to 211 schools that day, falsely claiming that the cause was "overflowing shrimp intestines with sediment."

He instructed workers to erase evidence and replace mobile phones.

Entomologists and forensic experts later identified the worms in the imported shrimp as blowfly larvae, which thrive at temperatures ranging from 15 to 35 degrees Celsius. They attributed the larvae's appearance to flaws in the overseas production and processing stages, as the shrimps were stored in a cold chain during their transportation.

Investigators also found that seven associated school kitchens were using inadequate food handling practices, despite removing contaminated meals before serving.

Further investigations revealed long-standing violations: Lujie had consistently ignored reports of food quality issues from school canteen supervisors for years. As a result, authorities decided to withdraw their food business license, penalize responsible individuals, and ban them from working in the food industry for five years.

Authorities also found that the company engaged in collusive bidding practices, which included rigging tenders with multiple proxy firms to unlawfully secure 86 school contracts.

Zhang and seven others were arrested on October 28 for bid rigging, and the market watchdog has decided to revoke the company's business license.

Officials in charge of school food security at Shanghai's Education Commission, Market Supervisory Administration, and Minhang District government, where the company is based, were also disciplined or punished administratively for supervisory violations.

On September 23, Shanghai's state-owned Bright Food Group took over catering services for 484 schools Lujie that had served to ensure that school meals continued uninterrupted.

The local government has initiated a special inspection of campus catering, pledging "zero tolerance" for food safety infractions.

The investigating team stated that new measures will reinforce supply chain control, improve culinary facilities, extend parental oversight, and tighten tendering processes to prevent similar crises.