Police arrested a kindergarten teacher after 23 children at Mengmeng kindergarten in Jiaozuo city here were hospitalised due to poisoning.
While 15 children have been discharged, eight still remain hospitalised, according to CNN.
The mass illness prompted the police to launch an investigation into the matter, following which the teacher, who's only been identified as 'Wang', was arrested for allegedly putting nitrite into their porridge.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that eating nitrite in high amounts leads to increased heart rates, headaches, vomiting and even death.
"The vomit was all over (their) pants. There were other children who were also throwing up, and they looked pale," one parent told Global Times. He found his child unconscious upon arriving at the kindergarten after being called.