GUIYANG -- Nitrite has been blamed for Friday's food poisoning incident in Guizhou Province that killed a five-year-old girl and sickened 72, local authorities said Tuesday.
Shop owners Wang Xianxin and Wang Yan have been arrested after mistakenly selling nitrite thinking it was sugar to a cook in the city of Anshun, the city government said in a statement.
The cook used the nitrite to season dishes for a dinner in Wangzhuang Village, Anshun, on Friday, it said.
A total of 73 dinner guests were admitted to five hospitals that night after showing symptoms of food poisoning. The girl died after treatment failed. Thirty-one victims are still in hospital.
