(Ecns.cn) – As most Chinese celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival last Monday, one couple instead spent the holiday mourning the death of their 18-month-old girl, who passed away after eating tainted chicken about four months ago in Beijing.
The investigation revealed that excess nitrite, a commonly used food additive, was the cause of death.
Death of a baby girl
On April 21, 2011, as Xu Yiming (alias) turned 18 months old, her aunt paid her a visit. Together with Zhu Fuxiang, Yiming's mother, they went out for a walk. At about two o'clock in the afternoon they passed a delicatessen, where they bought some fried chicken. Yiming ate only four or five small pieces, but after about half an hour she started to tremble and her lips turned blue.
The child was immediately sent to Beijing Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead after hours of intense rescue efforts. Xu Kunlun, the girl's father, was told that Yiming had been seriously poisoned by nitrite. The doctors said the amount of the chemical in Yiming's body was 79.8 percent higher than the normal standard – they even suspected that the poisoning might have been intentional.
After calling the police, the family arrived at the delicatessen owned by Zhang Jicun that night, just as he was about to go to bed. The policemen took samples from the remaining chicken at the shop and sent them to a lab for testing. The results showed that the amount of nitrite in the fried chicken pieces reached 4,500 mg/kg; nitrite levels in the whole chickens were over 4,000 mg/kg. The maximum amount allowed under the national standard is only 30 mg/kg.
When questioned, Zhang said he only knew that it made the chicken cook faster, and that the chemical colored the food to make it more inviting. He claimed that he was unaware that only 0.2 grams to 0.5 grams of nitrite can result in symptoms of poisoning, and that 3 grams may cause death. Zhang also revealed that he regularly used a small spoon to add the chemical, but that the amounts he used were always estimated rather than carefully measured.
On August 30, Zhang was charged with involuntary manslaughter. During the trial, he said the incident was quite unexpected, and swore he would never make fried chicken again. It is likely that Zhang will be sentenced to two to three years in prison. He promised to compensate the relatives of Yiming after he is released, even if he has to sell his own blood.
