Over 2,000 students, school staff catch school meal salmonella

Over thousand students and staff have been hit with food poisoning after eating chocolaste cakes at school cafeterias, the government reported Friday.

As of 6 p.m. on Friday, 2,112 suspected cases of food poisoning have been reported to the Ministry of food and Drug Safety, the Education Ministry said.

The cakes were manufactured by W1F&B and distributed by Pulmuone Foodmerce, a major food supplier.

Based on an initial inspection of the manufacturer, KCDC said salmonella was found in the ingredients and finished products. The center is doing a follow-up survey on the source of the ingredients.

“From Aug. 8 to Sept. 5, a total of 7,480 boxes of the chocolate cake product were manufactured, and 3,422 boxes were distributed to Foodmerce. The rest of the boxes have either been stored or been discarded, we found after conducting a field investigation to the manufacturer,” the Food and Drug Ministry said.

According to the ministry, 545 suspected cases occurred in seven places in Busan, and 167 cases occurred at four places in Daegu. In addition there were nine cases in Ulsan, 31 cases in Gyeonggi Province, 163 cases at seven places in North Jeolla Province 98 cases at three places in North Gyeongsang Province and 143 cases at 6 places in South Gyeongsang Province.

The chocolate cakes were distributed to 169 schools, two kindergartens, 12 Foodmerce restaurants and one children’s center.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)