PANAJI: The probe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into the recent case of food poisoning in which 16 students of a Betim-based government school were affected has found that the mid-day meals which were served on March 22 were contaminated.
“Laboratory examination report has revealed that the collected ‘reserve’ sample of the mid-day meal and also samples of the leftover food that were collected by the FDA officials were found to be contaminated. There was a piece of broomstick in one of the samples and human hair in the second sample of the mid-day meal,” said an official of the FDA.
He said that both the samples of the mid-day meal had a foul odour. However, the raw materials collected from the kitchen of the concerned self help group (SHG) were found to be safe. It may be recalled that on March 22, 16 students of the Government Primary and Secondary School were affected by food poisoning after they ate mid-day meal and complained about abdominal pain and nausea. Later, five of the 16 students were referred to the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim for medical examination.
Meanwhile, the FDA official has said that the licence of the concerned SHG will remain suspended, and the department has sought an explanation. “The report of the laboratory examination has been sent to the Directorate of Education asking it to discontinue the services from the concerned SHG,” said the official.
Director of education Gajanan P Bhat asked this reporter to contact I R Patil, the concerned officer of the mid-day meal cell of the education department, but when the reporter met him, the officer refused to comment on the entire episode.