On October 18, the People's Committee of Kim Ngan commune (Quang Tri province) said that it had organized a meeting with the leaders of Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities and parents of 75 boarding students to discuss the reorganization of the boarding kitchen, as well as issues related to Vice Principal Do Thi Hong Hue.
At the meeting, Mr. Do Van My - Principal of the school announced the results of the food sample inspection conducted by the Pasteur Nha Trang Institute. The results showed that there were contaminated food samples.
Mr. My, on behalf of the school, apologized to the parents of the 75 boarding students, taking responsibility for the lack of strict control leading to the incident.
Regarding the responsibility of Ms. Do Thi Hong Hue - the kitchen manager, Mr. My said that the school has changed the password of the kitchen surveillance camera system, to ensure that Ms. Hue no longer has access.
At the meeting, some parents proposed to transfer Ms. Hue out of the school, however, the Principal said that the incident is still in the process of verification, there is no official conclusion so it is not possible to transfer the staff.
Regarding the plan to reorganize the boarding kitchen, Mr. My said that the school has established a Board of Directors for boarding activities, including representatives of the Standing Committee of the Parents' Association, the boarding group and homeroom teachers. Parents have the right to directly supervise the delivery and processing of students' food and meals.
The school has reorganized the Steering Committee and established a 3-step inspection team. Step 1, the food delivery stage will have a medical technician, a teacher on duty and 2 caterers participating. Step 2 and step 3, the 2 caterers directly processed and stored samples according to regulations.
Kim Ngan Commune People's Committee said that this agency has drawn up a record of administrative violations in the field of food safety against Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities.
Previously, as reported by Lao Dong Newspaper, on the morning of September 26, after breakfast at school, 40 students showed symptoms of nausea and abdominal pain and were taken to the emergency room. Up to now, their health has stabilized.
The Pasteur Nha Trang Institute concluded: of the 4 tested food samples, 1 was positive for Bacillus cereus bacteria, a type of bacteria that often exists in soil, dust, and water, which can cause poisoning when cooked food is left at room temperature for a long time.
