The failure of the kitchen staff of Archbishop Porter Girls’ Senior High School to observe simple hygiene and food safety measures has been identified as the cause of food poisoning which affected the students of the school in February this year.
Analysis conducted by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIR) on food products from the school revealed that the school’s pantry used a milling machine which was not cleaned after it had been used the previous day to mill tomatoes.
A report of the laboratory analysis released by NMIR and made available to the Daily Graphic said as a result of the failure of the school’s pantry to observe food safety measures, the tomato paste used to prepare meals for the students was contaminated with salmonella species.
Last February, some students of the school had diarrhoea and stomach pains after eating food prepared for them. Fifteen students had to be admitted to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital and the Essikado Hospital for treatment.
In a panic reaction, parents went to the school to withdraw their children to prevent the students from being affected by the sickness.
In the wake of the incident, the Food and Drugs Board took food samples from the groundnut paste, groundnut soup and tomato puree from the school’s tomato mill for examination by the NMIR.
The report indicated that after milling the tomatoes, the school’s pantry staff failed to clean the milling machine to prevent bacterial infection.
The day before the food was served to the children, the unclean machine was used to mill tomatoes again. Therefore, those who took the first meal from the machine had serious abdominal problems.
According to the report, salmonella could lead to diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and fever within 72 hours after eating food contaminated by the species.
The Deputy Chief Executive of the FDB, Mr John Odami-Darkwah, advised the school to be more careful in handling food.
He said after the incident, the FDB had educated the school on food safety.
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