Five officials in central China have been removed from their posts after government subsidies for rural children's meals were suspected of being pocketed.

A teacher exposed online that children in Laershan Complete Primary School, in rural Hunan Province, received only a small piece of bread and a little bit of milk for lunch.

It was below the three yuan (48 US cents) meal standard set by the government for a subsidized lunch for school children.

The county government of Fenghuang on Tuesday said two officials with its education bureau, the school's principal and two deputy principals have been sacked following the allegation.

An investigation is under way.

In a microblog post, the teacher, surnamed Liang, asked, "How can the food not leave children hungry? Besides, is that really worth three yuan?"

An editorial of the Shandong-based Qilu Evening News said, "How can anyone with a conscience rip off children's subsidies like that?"

The editorial said the amount of subsidy for a child a year is about 600 yuan, lower than the amount some officials spend on one meal.

County authorities have committed 2.1 million yuan in their annual budget for the preparation and distribution of school lunch for primary and junior high schools.

An overhaul of the county's school lunch distribution system was launched as well, county officials said.

Starting in the fall of 2011, the central government began spending an estimated 16 billion yuan a year to improve lunch standards for school cafeterias in poor areas.

The spending is expected to benefit about 26 million primary and middle school students in 680 rural counties -- each of them get a free lunch worth three yuan a day.

Fenghuang introduced the subsidized lunch scheme in May. The county has 35,445 primary and junior high school children eligible for the scheme.