‘I am not a good headmaster’ says tearful principal after food poisoning scare
- Dozens of kids got sick after eating school lunch, and three of them were hospitalised for three days
- It turned out that the catering company did not have a proper food business license
Authorities in central China detained two bosses of a catering company and are investigating four government officials after dozens of students were hospitalised after eating a school lunch last week.
The incident increased scrutiny on the caterer, the Henan branch of Beijing Zhihong Catering Company, and officials discovered it did not have a required food business licence.
Two officials from the local education authority and two from the market supervision authority are under investigation.
Beijing Zhihong Catering Company was ordered to suspend its service, and future lunches at the school would be supplied by a new company this week.
The students were sent to hospital and, while most recovered relatively quickly, three had to stay in hospital for three days because of the illness, according to Beijing News.
Wang Yong, the school’s headmaster, lamented that he could not change the company, despite the poor food quality, because it had been allocated to the school by the local education bureau.
He broke down crying in a television interview and said: “My students are at the hospital. I am not a good headmaster.”