A total of 23 preschoolers were hospitalized following what authorities suspect was a food poisoning incident at a kindergarten in Jiangxi province on Tuesday, the local government said on Wednesday.

The children began vomiting around 1 pm, about an hour after lunch, which consisted of rice and jelly noodles, at the Red Star Kindergarten in Ducheng township in the city of Gao'an, the city government said.

As of 9 am on Wednesday, 16 of the children were under observation at the People's Hospital in Gao'an and seven others were at a local hospital for traditional Chinese medicine. All were in stable condition.