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Shanghai released the results of a sweeping investigation into the widely discussed "school lunch incident," on Friday, announcing that illegal activities have been fully uncovered and eight individuals, including the actual controller of Shanghai Lvjie Industrial Development Co (Lvjie), have been formally arrested. 

The city said it will revoke the company's food-business license and business license in accordance with legal procedures, CCTV news reported.

The case, which surfaced after parents reported foul-smelling shrimp dishes on September 15, prompted immediate attention from the Shanghai Party Committee and municipal government. Officials pledged "zero tolerance" toward campus food safety risks, quickly established an investigation team, and carried out daily command-and-coordination work to conduct a full, law-based investigation.

The city has also assigned Bright Food Group, a major state-owned enterprise, to temporarily take over meal services for 484 schools as of September 23 to ensure uninterrupted student lunches, according to CCTV news.

Also, the city issued new guidelines to regulate bidding and procurement for school meal services on Friday, according to a notice released by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. The document aims to strengthen oversight of food suppliers and improve safety and quality across primary and secondary school cafeterias, local media The Paper reported.

The guidelines state that when schools outsource cafeteria operations or entrust external providers, they must select qualified contractors through an open bidding process. Only companies with valid food-business licenses, proven capacity to shoulder food-safety responsibilities, and strong social credibility may participate. Food safety, nutritional standards, meal quality and satisfaction levels will serve as core criteria in supplier selection.

The document also requires that meal prices remain reasonable, with contracts clearly defining the proportion of ingredient costs within the overall meal standard. Parent representatives and school staff are expected to participate in the bidding and service-evaluation process as required by law.

In addition, authorities will establish a scientific evaluation system and a stringent exit mechanism, enabling dynamic management of service providers and the removal of underperforming contractors, according to The Paper.

The shrimp lunch case

According to CCTV news, the Shanghai government released a detailed statement about the investigation. The release said the smelly shrimp lunch incident on September 15 originated at a primary school in the city's Jing'an district, where kitchen staff assigned by Lvjie failed to wash frozen shrimp before cooking and discovered insect larvae during preparation. 

Instead of reporting the contamination, company controller Zhang ordered all shrimp distributed to 211 schools that day to be destroyed while instructing staff to conceal the finding of the larvae, falsely claiming that "the shrimp veins had spilled out and contained sand," and told employees to delete records and replace their mobile phones. 

Expert analysis later confirmed the larvae were calliphoridae (blowflies) maggots, likely introduced during overseas processing before the product entered China's cold-chain system.

The probe also found similar improper handling in seven Lvjie-run school kitchens, though none of the problematic dishes were consumed. Prior to the incident, kitchen managers at multiple schools had repeatedly reported foul odors and food-quality problems to the company, but Lvjie failed to relay these concerns to regulators as required.

Investigators uncovered further violations, including large-scale bid rigging in which Lvjie colluded with bidding agencies and shell companies to illegally secure 86 school meal service contracts. Zhang and seven others were arrested on October 28 for collusive tendering, while regulators moved to revoke Lvjie's food-business license and business license, citing evidence destruction, coordinated cover-ups and particularly serious violations.

A separate accountability review concluded that the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, the municipal market regulator and the Minhang district government failed to fulfill their supervisory duties in ensuring school food safety. Responsible officials from these agencies received Party disciplinary or administrative penalties.

In response, the city has deployed an emergency working group to maintain stable meal supply and transferred service for 484 schools to Bright Food Group as a temporary provider. Authorities have also launched citywide inspections, strengthened raw-material oversight, and introduced new measures to tighten bidding management, enhance kitchen facilities, improve satisfaction monitoring and expand parental participation in cafeteria supervision. Officials pledged to apply the "strictest standards" to safeguard student food safety and prevent similar risks.

Global Times