16 pupils at Eunos pre-school down with food poisoning symptoms

SINGAPORE – Some 16 pupils from a pre-school in Eunos have fallen sick, showing symptoms of food poisoning on March 11.

In a media reply, SATS Catering, the catering provider for MapleBear Kids Adventure Place in Eunos, said it is aware that 16 of the school’s pupils have “experienced symptoms of food poisoning after consuming food at the pre-school” on March 11.

It added that it supplied 96 lunch meals to the pre-school on March 11, and that these meals were from a batch of 2,188 meals prepared that were also served at other schools on the same day.

“To date, we have not received reports of any issues with the meals from other schools,” SATS said.

“We understand from MapleBear Eunos that apart from lunch provided by SATS, students there also consumed snacks, such as cheese sandwiches, at teatime on (March 11),” said the company. These sandwiches were prepared in-house, SATS added.

It said its meals are planned, prepared and delivered “under stringent food safety protocols”, and that it has taken food samples from the batch of meals served on March 11 for laboratory testing.

In a note on March 12 to parents, seen by The Straits Times, the pre-school said eight children from one of its classes were diagnosed with food poisoning, while seven children and two teachers were diagnosed with stomach flu.

Four other cases were pending doctors’ diagnoses, added the pre-school operator in its note.

The pre-school said in its note that results of SATS’ laboratory testing of the food samples are expected in two or three working days, and the pre-school has temporarily arranged for a person to prepare the children’s lunch in school until then.

This person has a food safety certificate, and the pre-school said it would ensure that “all food preparation follows proper food safety practices”.

The pre-school has also disinfected the school, as well as toys, teaching materials and learning resources, among other measures in response.

The Straits Times has contacted the Early Childhood Development Agency, the Singapore Food Agency and MapleBear for more information.