Food poisoning case of 33 people in Dong Thap: Temporarily suspending the place providing meals

On the afternoon of April 12, Mr. Doan Tan Buu, Director of the Department of Health of Dong Thap province, informed that the functional sector of Dong Thap province has temporarily suspended the operation of TR facility, located on Tran Hung Dao Street, Ward 1, Cao Lanh City, the unit that provided lunch for the STEM Festival at Dong Thap University on April 6, after which there were 33 cases of food poisoning.

STEM festival in Dong Thap had about 3,500 participants, mainly students, then 33 people got food poisoning

PHOTO: Contributor

Previously, as Thanh Nien reported, at around 3:00 p.m. on April 6, the Department of Health received information from the Cao Lanh City Medical Center that some students participating in the STEM Festival at Dong Thap University had symptoms of suspected food poisoning such as: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. That same evening, 33 people were recorded with the above symptoms, of which 29 had to be hospitalized at Dong Thap General Hospital, while the remaining 4 people had mild symptoms and were monitoring their health at home.

After treatment, all hospitalized cases were in stable health, with no worsening. By the afternoon of April 7, 16/29 cases were discharged from the hospital, and on April 8, Dong Thap General Hospital discharged all food poisoning cases to go home.

The initial diagnosis of the hospital was that the above cases were all gastrointestinal infections/food poisoning. According to the investigation of the Dong Thap Department of Health, on the morning of April 6, about 3,500 people, including students and teachers, attended the STEM Festival at Dong Thap University. They then had lunch from 10:30 to 12:00 with the following dishes: white rice, minced pork soup with jute leaves, braised pork with duck eggs, fried lemongrass salted chicken provided by TR facility in Ward 1, Cao Lanh City, and drank bottled water of the following brands: D. 330ml/bottle, L. 500ml/bottle, and R. 500ml/bottle.

In addition, the organizers also served drinks including 180ml/box fresh milk with an expiration date of 8.2025 and milk tea brought to the event location by a university in Ho Chi Minh City, processed on-site, and distributed free of charge.

Dong Thap Department of Health has directed specialized units to coordinate in investigating the poisoning case according to regulations of the Ministry of Health . The working group has inspected the compliance with food safety regulations of TR facility in Ward 1, Cao Lanh City. The group has taken 4 food samples and sent them to the laboratory for analysis of related indicators according to regulations.

After receiving and treating the patients, Dong Thap General Hospital collected 14 samples for analysis. After receiving the incident report, the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health sent an official dispatch requesting the Department of Health of Dong Thap province to investigate and handle the suspected food poisoning case; strengthen measures to manage collective kitchens after the poisoning incident occurred... The Department of Food Safety also requested the locality to temporarily suspend the operation of the food processing facility suspected of causing food poisoning if it detects a risk of continuing to cause food poisoning; strictly handle violations of food safety regulations and publicize the results to promptly warn the community...

According to Mr. Doan Tan Buu, the provincial authorities have temporarily suspended the TR facility since April 9, pending the results of food sample analysis to determine the cause of the food poisoning incident in order to handle it according to regulations. Specific information will be provided when the results are available.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vu-33-nguoi-ngo-doc-thuc-pham-o-dong-thap-tam-dinh-chi-noi-cung-cap-suat-an-185250412182251244.htm