Food poisoning hits 1,700 South Korean students (Reuters) Updated: 2006-06-23 13:55 More than 1,700 South Korean
children have suffered food poisoning this week, and a catering company which
supplies lunches to school cafeterias was investigating the cause, officials
said on Friday.
CJ Food System, an affiliate of CJ Corp., said it was cooperating with the
Korea Food and Drug Administration in an investigation.
The company said in a statement it had also stopped supplying food to schools
and 1,600 other cafeterias it serves.
"CJ Food System has not discovered problems except only at a certain number
of schools, but in order to counter all possible risks, we are suspending food
supply and initiating a thorough investigation," it said.
None of the students were in serious condition but the outbreak led to
hundreds of students staying home due to nausea, fever and diarrhoea.
The school boards of Seoul, the neighbouring city of Inchon and Kyonggi
province suspended lunch services provided by CJ Food System.
"In all, 71,000 students at 68 schools served by CJ Food System have been
affected," an education ministry official said.
"That is on top of the 1,709 students that have been ill and are seeking
treatment," he said.
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