Food poisoning fells hundreds of Chinese children
Pastor Dale Morgan
Friday October 13, 12:18 PM Reuters
*Food poisoning fells hundreds of Chinese children*
BEIJING (Reuters) - Food poisoning has felled about 400 children at two
schools in China where poor canteen hygiene and unsafe food are a common
problem, state media said on Friday.
A total of 246 children and teachers fell ill on Wednesday after snacks
at a primary school in Guangzhou, capital of the booming southern
province of Guangdong, the Beijing News said.
More than 90 remained on drips in hospital on Thursday.
The manufacturer of the snacks, soybean milk and red bean cake, had been
ordered to suspend production, the newspaper said.
Some 143 students fallen ill with diarrhoea after lunch on Tuesday at a
school in the south-western province of Sichuan, Xinhua news agency
said, citing the local health bureau.
Seventy-three students were taken to hospital.
Lax supervision often encourages food suppliers to Chinese schools,
especially those in rural areas, to cut costs at the expense of
cleanliness and food safety.
At the start of the new term in early September, more than 200 pupils
were poisoned by a lunch at a school in another part of Sichuan, while
about a dozen mass food-poisoning cases have been reported at schools
across the country since then.
The worst case in recent years occurred in 2003 when a soy drink
promoted by local education authorities poisoned some 3,000 pupils and
killed at least one in the north-eastern province of Liaoning.