A CELEBRATION of 80 years of Girl Guides in the territory was upset yesterday when 27 guides were taken to hospital with suspected food poisoning.
Fifteen were discharged within a few hours, but 12 remained in stable condition at Kwong Wah and Queen Elizabeth hospitals last night.
The Fire Services Department scrambled its Mobile Casualty Treatment centre and a fleet of ambulances, for fear that hundreds could be affected, but the apprehension proved unfounded.
The group, mainly teenagers, collapsed after eating lunch during the celebration at Mongkok Stadium.
Urban Services staff are investigating the bulk meals that were provided by the stadium's official caterer, who supplied 1,600 lunch boxes, each containing a chicken leg and a tuna sandwich.
'They were being sick and felt stomach pains,' said Millie Chow Tso Lai-chee, administration executive of the Hong Kong Girl Guides' Association.
