Police try to quell Chinese parents’ protest over ‘mouldy’ school food
- Video footage shows officers detaining protesters amid angry scenes after a group of parents found meat and seafood that appeared to be covered in mould
- A number of pupils are reported to have been suffering from intestinal problems
Police had to be called to a school in southwest China after angry parents staged a protest about the discovery of mouldy food in a “model student canteen”.
Witnesses said piles of meat and seafood covered in mould had been spotted when some of the parents stumbled into the kitchen at Development School of Chengdu No 7 High School on Tuesday.
The next day a number of pictures of mouldy food, apparently taken at the school, flooded Chinese social media and parents discovered that a number of children had been suffering from similar intestinal problems.
The protests started outside the school in the capital of Sichuan province and then spread to the local government offices, according to witnesses, who said several parents had been detained.
Video footage taken on Wednesday appears to show hundreds of parents storming the school gates and other footage shows police arresting them and using pepper spray.
Following a public outcry on social media the Wenjiang district government issued a statement on Weibo that said eight people responsible for food safety at the school were being investigated by the authorities.
