Food poisoning hits 1,700 South Korean students

SEOUL, June 23: 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 today said.

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.

Reuters