Investigation into the poisoning of 38 students in Ho Chi Minh City

On the evening of March 28, the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) said that it had received information about a suspected food poisoning incident that occurred at two facilities of Tue Duc Secondary School in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Of which, about 38 students showed symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and nausea after eating school meals provided by the same company in Tan Phu District.

The suspected poisonings occurred on the same day, and involved the same food groups suspected of causing the poisoning.

Faced with the above situation, the Food Safety Department has issued an official dispatch requesting the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department to urgently organize an investigation and trace the origin of the food. From there, clearly identify the source of raw materials and food for the processing facility suspected of causing poisoning.

At the same time, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety needs to take food samples and specimens for testing to find the cause; Temporarily suspend the operation of meal processing facilities suspected of causing food poisoning, if a risk of further food poisoning is detected.

The Department needs to strictly handle violations of food safety regulations (if any), and publicize the results to promptly warn the community.

After implementation, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety must report the results to the Department of Food Safety according to regulations.

Regarding the above incident, at the regular press conference on the socio-economic situation on the afternoon of March 27, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lam Phuong - Head of the Department of Food Poisoning Surveillance and Information and Communication - Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety, said that the Department is requesting the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Training of Thu Duc City to report on the incident in which many students at 2 facilities of the Tue Duc education system showed symptoms of suspected poisoning after meals at school.

Previously, on March 26 and 27, some students from two schools in the Tue Duc education system, Tue Duc Primary and Secondary School and Tam Tue Duc Primary and Secondary School, showed symptoms of stomach pain after eating lunch, snacks, and breakfast at school, suspected of being due to food poisoning.

In a quick report sent to the Department of Education and Training of Thu Duc City, the school said that on March 26, Tue Duc Secondary School (located on Luong Dinh Cua Street, An Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City) recorded 38 students suspected of food poisoning.

Specifically, 2 students at home and 2 students at school showed suspicious symptoms and 34 students had one of 3 symptoms of headache, vomiting, and diarrhea after eating at school. The suspected food poisoning was in the lunch and snack on March 25 and the morning of March 26.

By the next morning (March 27), Tam Tue Duc Secondary School (located on Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, Thanh My Loi Ward, Thu Duc City) recorded 7 cases of students whose parents asked them to stay home for observation because they had symptoms of mild stomachache.

The food source for the meals of students of this school on March 25 and 26 was provided by an industrial kitchen with a company address in Tan Thanh ward, Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City.

After the incident, the school system sent four food samples for testing from two independent medical inspection sources.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/dieu-tra-vu-38hoc-sinh-ngo-doco-tp-ho-chi-minh.html