Students admitted at KC General Hospital due to suspected food poisoning; discharged I Hospital medical superintendent says students complained of headache and nausea.
Forty-nine students of the BBMP girls’ high school in Mattikere fell ill due to suspected food poisoning on Thursday after they consumed breakfast supplied by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) through its Akshaya Patra project.
Teachers took 47 students from classes VIII-XII to KC General Hospital, Malleswaram, for treatment after they started complaining of headache and nausea at 10am.
KC General Hospital medical superintendent Dr RL Chandra Prabha said the students complained of headache and nausea, but didn’t clarify if it was caused due to food poisoning. Doctors at the hospital said the children have already been discharged as they have been stable. “There is no danger to their lives,” they added.
Deputy commissioner of police (north) HS Revanna said: “When students started falling ill, the Yeshwantpur police, who were alerted, rushed to the school. We seized the food kept for mid-day meal from the school premises. We will take action if anybody is found guilty.” Meanwhile, food samples have been sent to a third-party National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-accredited laboratory in the city.
Ramesh, a Hindi teacher, said the school received food from Iskcon at 9am. “When a few students complained of headache and nausea, we sent them home assuming it was a case of sickness. But later, when more students started complaining, we called a doctor, who suggested we take them to KC General Hospital,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iskcon authorities rushed to the hospital. Sridhar Venkat, executive director of Iskcon’s Akshaya Patra project, said: “We supplied food for 85,000 students in the city on Thursday. But, students of the BBMP school in Mattikere alone fell ill. We will investigate how this happened and will take necessary action.”
Bharathi Ghanshyam, Iskcon head of communication, said Iskcon prepares food for 1,200 children in the city from two kitchens at HK Hill and Vasanthapuram.
“Majjige huli (a gravy with buttermilk base), rice and curd was supplied from the HK Hills kitchen. An incident like this has been reported for the first time,” she said.
“We have traced the batch of food that was supplied to this school. The same batch has been supplied to over 20 schools in the city. None of the other schools have complained or reported any problems. Hence, it appears that the problem is local. However, we are investigating,” said Iskcon officials.
“We have told the school authorities to ensure that the food they serve is hot and clean,” said BBMP councillor BR Nanjundappa.
Iskcon officials said the foundation has been supplying food to schoolchildren for the past 11 years without any untoward incidents.
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