China will impose stricter food safety requirements on kindergartens beginning Monday, aiming to strengthen protections for young children, according to a new regulation issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation.

The 32-article regulation on kindergartens' food safety responsibilities includes bans on high-risk foods and tighter controls on food additives, calling for establishing a "negative list" for food procurement, and requiring enhanced supervision, meal sampling, and sanitation procedures.

Under the new rules, kindergarten food suppliers should not have been involved in food safety accidents or verified food safety scandals during the previous three years.

Kindergartens are prohibited from purchasing unpackaged pastries, hamburgers, and sandwiches from outside vendors, as well as bulk cooking oil and bulk salt.

The rules ban the production and sale of cold dishes, raw foods, and cold-processed pastries, along with several high-risk ingredients, including undercooked green beans, fresh yellow daylilies, wild mushrooms, and sprouted potatoes.

Food additives are in principle prohibited, according to the regulations. If their use is necessary, kindergartens should strictly control quantities and place them under enhanced daily supervision.

Samples of every finished dish served in each meal should be stored under refrigeration for more than 48 hours for possible testing, it said.

The regulations also set strict operational standards for meal preparation and delivery.

Additionally, the new document clarifies that the time between cooking and consumption should be no more than two hours. Meal deliveries should use dedicated sealed and insulated equipment, while staff handling food distribution must follow hygiene requirements.

Kindergartens should establish separate washing and disinfection rooms, and tableware should generally be disinfected using physical methods.

Meanwhile, kindergartens are required to organize at least one training session each semester on professional ethics and food safety management to improve the staff's ability to identify food safety risks. Staff members for food safety should receive no fewer than 40 hours of training annually.

The regulations also require kindergartens to establish a meal accompaniment system in which responsible staff dine with children during every meal and keep records, encouraging parent meal accompaniment programs and requiring kindergartens to publicly disclose information, including food sourcing, meal suppliers, and additive usage to parents and teachers.

Furthermore, market supervision authorities are urged to intensify inspections on kindergarten cafeterias, contractors, and meal suppliers at least twice each semester, the rules state, adding that violators will face heavier penalties.