In the fourth mass food poisoning incident to hit China in a
week, thirty-four students were hospitalized with suspected food
poisoning after eating lunch at a factory cafeteria in Fujian Province on Tuesday, local food safety
authorities said Wednesday.
The food watchdog is analyzing food from the cafeteria of the
Guanda Garment Company in the provincial capital Fuzhou after
receiving reports that more than 30 students from two technical
secondary schools had fallen ill on Tuesday.
The officials suspect that mushrooms might be the source of the
poisoning.
The students, who were doing field work in the firm, developed
cramps, vomiting and diarrhea and were taken to hospital Tuesday
afternoon and diagnosed with suspected food poisoning.
All the students have been discharged after being treated.
The exact cause of the food poisoning is still unknown and an
investigation is in progress.
The incident follows hot on the heels of three other mass
poisonings in the country this month.
On Monday, more than 60 migrant workers in Shanghai were
hospitalized with food poisoning after eating supper at a
construction site cafeteria.
Also on Monday, 19 middle-school students were hospitalized with
suspected food poisoning after eating lunch in a school cafeteria
in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.
On April 9, more than 200 people fell ill and one person died in
Harbin in northeastern China after they ate a hospital breakfast
suspected of being contaminated with rat poison.
(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2007)