These ingredients aren’t “aging” in warehouses—they’re sailing straight to elementary school tables. Over 500 schools, 500,000 meals daily: How many kids are unknowingly chowing down on “zombie food”?
Recently, Shanghai parents erupted—not over heavy homework, but because lunch reeked.
A supposedly aromatic “shrimp and egg stir-fry” was yanked mid-day after kids scrunched their noses: “How long’s this shrimp been sitting? It tastes rancid!” Schools rushed in biscuits and bread as backups, but parents’ hearts sank.
Pudong parents reported sticky mock chicken in lunchboxes; Minhang folks shared photos of spoiled tofu. Some kids, after just two bites, doubled over with stomachaches, rushed to the nurse’s office.
Chillingly, all these tainted meals traced back to one “big player”—Shanghai Lvjie Industry Development Co., Ltd., a self-proclaimed “daily supplier of 500,000 student meals” industry titan.
A Stink from Shrimp Eggs Unleashes a Massive Cover-Up
The scandal spread like wildfire. That afternoon, schools pulled the “shrimp and egg stir-fry” batches, issuing emergency bread. But parents scanning the bread’s ingredient list exploded further: A dense roster of over a dozen additives, mocked online as “feasting on the periodic table.”
Lvjie’s quick retort only fanned the flames: “Not all batches affected—just fine sand in the shrimp, no spoilage.” This sparked parental fury; one dad blasted on Weibo: “Sand causes rancid flavor? My kid says half the class puked—this sand’s fault too?”
The real bombshell came from investigative journalist Deng Fei’s unearthed food traceability screenshots. Those jaw-dropping dates shredded Lvjie’s fig leaf:
Jiangsu-sourced handmade egg dumplings, produced December 2 last year with a 7-day refrigerated shelf life, were “purchased” by Lvjie on March 12 this year—expired a full three months—straight to a Jing’an District elementary kitchen; Anji white tofu, made May 15 with a 3-day expiry, shipped to Lvjie warehouses on June 19; Ironically, Lvjie’s own fresh meat egg dumplings from March 27 lingered over two months before hitting tables, morphed into “zombie fare.”
Even more spine-tingling: Lvjie’s HQ at No. 1158, Zhuanxing East Road, Minhang District, flaunts a “Food Safety Demonstration Unit” plaque—yet its meals blanket 500+ schools across Shanghai’s 16 districts, from primaries to kindergartens. In plain terms: 500,000 kids daily might be ingesting expired goods.
A “Hero’s Cloak” Over a Blackhearted Workshop
Who’d guess this firm gambling kids’ health wore such “halos”?
Lvjie’s founder bills himself a “crossover king,” pivoting from nuclear energy and chemicals to catering, touting “Top 10 China Group Meal Brand” and “Deputy President Unit of Culinary Association.” During the pandemic, it posed as a “cabin supply hero.” But these shiny badges? Smoke and mirrors.
Parents’ patience snapped. Xiaohongshu and forums overflowed with Lvjie gripes: “My second-grader’s never called lunch tasty—always frozen fried pork or fish cutlets,” “Veggies always wilted, oil so heavy it’s nauseating,” “Kid gets stomachaches post-meal; complaints ignored.”
Outrage peaked: Lvjie charges schools 18 yuan per meal, yet skimps worse than a 10-yuan fast-food box. One parent crunched: At 500,000 daily meals, skimping 50 cents each yields nearly 90 million yuan in annual “blackheart profits”—gouged from kids’ mouths.
Tianyan Check records expose the rot: Multiple lawsuits over health rights violations, yet Lvjie sails through bids. This year alone, it snagged several million-yuan meal contracts, as if complaints and suits were fiction.
Heartbreaking: Lvjie could spot expiry dates in traceability systems but deliberately bought outdated stock—not “oops,” but willful endangerment of kids’ health.
Where’s Oversight? Netizens Dig into “Repeated Complaints, Repeated Wins” Shenanigans
Post-exposure, Shanghai Education Commission finally piped up: Teaming with market regulators for on-site probes, lab results in a week, enforcing “principal dining with kids.” Parents weren’t having it:
“What took so long? Hundreds of complaints ignored?”
“Traceability screams expiry—regulators blind?”
“Lvjie’s ‘Top 10’ badge bought?”
Xinhua commentary nailed it: Endless complaints, endless bids—any tied interests?
Insiders whisper: Lvjie dazzles bids with “flawless plans—balanced menus, robust assurances”—but delivers a farce.
Netizens skewered: “Lvjie’s name’s a joke—’Green’ for eco-expired slop, ‘Swift’ for quick black-money grabs; tailor-made for zombie kid meals.” “Cabin hero then, child poisoner now—wild pivot.”
Gut-wrenching: As of September 19, reporters’ repeated calls to Lvjie rang unanswered, playing dead to dodge the storm.
Kids’ Lunches: No Room for Sloppiness
Silver lining: December brings the “Campus Meal Service Enterprise Management Guidelines”—mandatory food safety directors, “open-kitchen” cams, shrinking expired stock’s playground. But parents fret: Will Lvjie get booted from campuses? Who covers health hits from past rotten meals?
School meals aren’t biz—they’re conscience. Lvjie, cloaked in “supply hero” glory, rakes “lineage-ending” dirty cash, trampling 500,000 families’ trust and society’s bedrock.
Feed your kid rotten tofu today; tomorrow, your firm’s name rots in infamy.
Lvjie, your “shortcut’s” endgame. Brace: Law and parents won’t spare you.
References
- Utterly Heartless! Lvjie Collects Expired Ingredients, Exposing “Zombie Lunches” for 500,000 Shanghai Kids – NetEase
- Inside Shanghai Campus Meal Controversy Supplier Lvjie: Won 27 Projects in August – Sina News
- Lvjie Student Meals in Food Safety Crisis – Tencent News
- Shanghai Notifies on Rancid Lunch Incident: Suspected Concealment Under Investigation – Chinese Herald
- Just Now, Official Notification on “Shanghai Multi-School Lunch Rancid Incident” – Tencent
- When Oversight Lapses Meet Meal Monopolies: Who’s Enabling Problem Ingredients in Campuses? – NetEase
- Shanghai Lvjie Mired in “Lunch Odor” Storm: Supplies Over 500,000 Meals Daily – Nanfang+
- Shanghai Lvjie Buys Expired Ingredients for Kids’ Meals – Weibo
