Friday, December 21, 2007

Mumbai milk 'poisoned children'

Officials in the Indian city of Mumbai have stopped supplies of flavoured milk to schoolchildren after it was suspected of causing food poisoning.
About 50 children fell ill in two separate incidents, leading to the milk scheme being suspended in more than 1,000 of the city's schools.

Police in the city are questioning a man who is alleged to have supplied milk to one of the schools affected.

Milk is provided to some 450,000 Mumbai children for nutritional reasons.

Vomiting

Last week, 35 children were taken to hospital after they consumed the flavoured milk.

However, it was treated as a one-off incident and the scheme continued.

On Wednesday, 14 children from a second municipal school fell ill.

On both occasions the children, some under 12, suffered from vomiting and severe stomach ache soon after they drank the strawberry-flavoured milk.

They were given intravenous glucose and monitored by local hospitals for a day.

Joint municipal commissioner SS Shinde said the milk scheme had been suspended while quality controls were carried out. It is to resume once health checks are complete.