‘Insufficient basis’ to determine that 5 Ho Chi Minh City students hospitalized had food poisoning

District 3 People’s Committee announced the conclusion on October 30, after an investigation at the school and Saigon General Hospital – where patients were treated, those who shared meals, food origin, and preparation process. processing, storage, transportation of the supplier, medical history of those who cook and serve food, food sample testing…

The investigation agency determined that on the afternoon of October 10, the boarding meal facility delivered to the school more than 1,300 servings of stir-fried vermicelli and tofu chive soup, 531 grilled spring rolls, nearly 800 grilled meats, 26 vegetarian meals, 19 Pork porridge serving. In addition, this company also provides two other schools in Ho Chi Minh City with thousands of scholarships.

Food is prepared and transported to school by truck around 10:00 a.m., then distributed in trays and served to students in the school cafeteria. Eating utensils are collected and brought back to the facility for processing.

About three hours after lunch, 6 students showed abdominal pain, of which two cases had additional symptoms of vomiting. Emergency crew 115 came to the school to evaluate and transfer 5 students to Saigon General Hospital. Doctors diagnosed acute gastroenteritis and discharged him the same evening. A student stayed in the school’s medical room for monitoring and was picked up by his parents at 5:00 p.m. The next morning, the students went to school normally.

Food is purchased from large companies, with contracts and invoices for purchasing raw materials. Legal conditions, hygiene, equipment, tools, and people are all no problems. Test results of stored food samples conducted by the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City did not detect bacteria that often cause poisoning such as E.coli, Salmonella…

During admission and treatment, 5 children did not vomit or have loose stools, so the hospital did not test for microbiology and toxicology. To date, no hospital or clinic has reported a case with the same symptoms and the same school lunch.

Since the incident until now, Le Quy Don school has stopped serving boarding meals. Thousands of students have registered to bring meals to school for lunch and sleep in the common room. Some students go home for lunch and then come to school. School continues in the afternoon.

District 3 People’s Committee requires schools to enhance food safety, have delivery staff and supervise meal delivery facility staff, and arrange separate rooms to divide and heat food and avoid dust. grungy. Schools periodically take samples to check and monitor the quality of water used for food and drink, and operate a school safety self-inspection system. The Health Department strengthens inspection and supervision of catering establishments, collective kitchens, and canteens at schools…

Le Phuong