Kerala Orders Schools' Inspection Over Suspected Food Poisoning Incidents

A day after various incidents of food poisoning were reported from some parts of the State, Kerala government on Saturday convened a high-level meeting of officials of various departments and decided to conduct inspection of schools.

The meeting, which evaluated the mid-day meal scheme in the schools, was chaired by General Education Minister V Sivankutty and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies G R Anil.

Minister V Sivankutty said the inspections would be conducted by teams of officials from the Departments of General Education, Health, Food and Safety and Civil Supplies.

"The food samples collected from the schools have been sent for testing in labs and the results will be available within five days. As of now, no one is in hospital," Minister V Sivankutty said in a release.

The evaluation meeting decided to eliminate mosquito-breeding sites on Fridays.

"The kitchen staff will be made aware of cleanliness by the food and safety department," Minister V Sivankutty said.

The government has decided to also test the quality of drinking water in all schools across the State. On Saturday, some students of the government Upper Primary School at Kayamkulam and four students from an anganwadi at Kottarakkara were hospitalised after they complained of uneasiness after taking the mid-day meal.

Students from Uchakada School in Thiruvananthapuram and a lower primary school in Kasaragod district too have complained of uneasiness.