 Esing Bakery, from The Illustrated London News (1857) | |
| Date | 15 January 1857 |
|---|---|
| Location | Victoria, British Hong Kong |
| Cause | Arsenic poisoning |
| Casualties | |
| 300–500 taken ill, predominantly Europeans | |
| Deaths | 0 at the time of the event, 3 from long-term consequences |
| Arrests | 57 Chinese men |
| Accused | Cheong Ah-lum and 9 others |
| Charges | "Administering poison with intent to kill and murder"[1] |
| Verdict | Not guilty |
| Esing Bakery incident | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 裕成辦館毒麵包案 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 裕成办馆毒面包案 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Esing Bakery poisoned bread case | ||||||||||
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The Esing Bakery incident,[n 1] also known as the Ah Lum affair, was a food contamination scandal in the early history of British Hong Kong. On 15 January 1857, during the Second Opium War, several hundred European residents were poisoned non-lethally by arsenic, found in bread produced by a Chinese-owned store, the Esing Bakery. The proprietor of the bakery, Cheong Ah-lum,[n 2] was accused of plotting the poisoning but was acquitted in a trial by jury. Nonetheless, Cheong was successfully sued for damages and was banished from the colony. The true responsibility for the incident and its intention—whether it was an individual act of terrorism, commercial sabotage, a war crime orchestrated by the Qing government, or purely accidental—both remain a matter of debate.
In Britain, the incident became a political issue during the 1857 general election, helping to mobilise support for the war and the incumbent Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston. In Hong Kong, it sowed panic and insecurity among the local colonists, highlighting the precariousness of imperial rule in the colony. The incident contributed to growing tensions between Hong Kong's European and Chinese residents, as well as within the European community itself. The scale and potential consequences of the poisoning make it an unprecedented event in the history of the British Empire, the colonists believing at the time that its success could have wiped out their community.
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