39 pupils and staff fall ill after eating school lunches in Sha Tin

Hong Kong health authorities are investigating an outbreak of suspected food poisoning that hit 39 pupils and staff members who ate lunch at a Sha Tin school earlier this week.

Twenty-three boys and 14 girls, aged between five and 11, from Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School and two employees, aged 34 and 38, were affected.

They developed stomach pain and diarrhoea about eight to 22 hours after eating school lunches provided by a supplier on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the school, located at 8 Yuen Chau Kok Road in Sha Tin, could not be reached for comment on Saturday night.

The Centre for Health Protection did not name the supplier in a statement on Saturday.

“Initial investigations of the [centre] revealed that the affected persons consumed the same type of lunchboxes before the onset of symptoms, pointing to food poisoning likely related to the consumption of marinated chicken leg and penne provided by the lunch supplier,” it said.

Two pupils sought medical advice but did not require hospitalisation. They were in a stable condition.