In another food scandal, Nangang District authorities in Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, revoked the license of a kindergarten over reports that students were fed moldy rice.
Police have detained the legal representative of the Elite Kids Paradise school.
The local government acted quickly and fired the director of preschool education department and a deputy chief inspector, while the chiefs of the district education and market supervision bureaus were also suspended.
Some of the parents claimed that they found moldy rice, expired food as well as food additives and juice in the piano room of the kindergarten.
Pictures posted online showed out-of-date food, including milk, yogurt, rice dumpling and puffed food. There were some additives marked "should not be eaten directly" and juices that the parents claimed were actually concentrated solution.
In one of the pictures, the expiry date on the yogurt was June 13.
Parents said their children had lunch everyday in the kindergarten, which prided itself as "the best early education institution in China."
In its advertisements, the school claimed that it provides green and healthy food to children and charged 7,000 yuan ($1,051.6) per month as fees from each of the 70 students.
Students complained about stomachaches and nosebleeds, parents said. The kindergarten chef reportedly fled from the window when the parents came to question him.
The district government said officials had launched an investigation into the food scare.
It said officials had seized 215 kilograms of rice in 27 boxes and 16 bags, and did notice mildew stains on the rice through the transparent packages.
A report by China News Agency said Li Mengli, the kindergarten head, told officials the rice was purchased in March. He agreed to return the tuition fees from March to July.
Educational officials said there were issues with the school management as well.
The market supervision authority authorized the Heilongjiang Inspection and Quarantine Technical Center to carry out tests on the rice, while the kindergarten head, the chef and canteen workers were investigated, a statement said.
The kitchen was also sealed up, it said.
The local police had also frozen the kindergarten's bank accounts. They will also investigate the rice producer, Chufeng Rice Co.
The students have been sent for health examination.
The government has launched an overall inspection of public and private kindergartens in the district over license and food security. Unqualified schools will be shut down, it said.
