Handful of Students Sick After Under-cooked Lunch

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

There may be six students, so far, affected by an under-cooked meal of chicken strips and mojos served to 137 children at Pineview elementary over the noon-hour yesterday. (click here for earlier story)

School District 57 Superintendent, Brian Pepper, has just returned from the school and says, "When the parents phone(d) in to indicate if a child is away, the secretary did some questioning and asking and we’ve determined that there may be six children away affected by the incident of yesterday."

Doctor David Bowering at Northern Health points out that an illness like salmonella food poisoning has an incubation period of 48-hours, so there may be others yet to feel the affects of the under-cooked chicken.  He says samples of the food have been sent to the provincial lab for testing to determine whether pathogenic bacteria are found.

The lunch program at Pineview is operated by the Parent Advisory Council at the school, but yesterday’s meal was brought in by an outside vendor.  At this point, Dr. Bowering is refusing to name the business, which operates an in-house restaurant and catering services, but says it is a licenced premises that  has voluntarily closed while an investigation is conducted.

"Just because we’re currently investigating and, obviously, and, you know, bad publicity isn’t good for anybody...it’s not in the public health interest, in my mind, to let people know at this point.  I’m sure that people will find out."

It is not yet known, at this point, whether the vendor has provided food to other schools in the city, that is something Superintendent Pepper is promising to check on.  Asked whether SD57 is worried about legal liability should any of the children become sick, Pepper says, "Really, right now, we’re just focused on the health of the children in the school and that’s really our main thrust right now, is cooperating with Northern Health, so that we make sure kids are safe and healthy."

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