At least 40 learners fell ill after consuming lollipops at school. Picture: RUSA
Durban - At least 40 learners at a Durban primary school were rushed to hospital after falling ill after eating lollipops.
IPSS Medical Rescue said they were called to a primary school in Verulam on Friday after the children reported that they were not feeling well.
Reaction Unit SA's Prem Balram added that the learners displayed symptoms of food poisoning after consuming the XPOP Energy Red Dragon lollipops which had been bought at the school’s market day.
“Several learners aged between five and 13-years-old approached teachers and complained of severe abdominal pains, difficulty in breathing and nausea after consuming lollipops that were purchased from other learners during their market day event,” he said.
Balram added that the children were assessed by emergency teams at the scene.
“Some learners were taken to local hospitals by ambulance while others were taken to medical facilities by their parents,“ he said.
In February, learners fell ill after consuming the same lollipops.
At the time, IOL reported that learners at the uMzovane Primary School in kwaMaphumulo fell sick after allegedly consuming XPOP Energy Red Dragon lollipops they bought from a vendor.
Manufacturer, Richester Foods was absolved of blame after an independent test revealed that learners did not get sick after eating the lollipops.
Richester Foods managing director, Dr Hussein Cassim, said they were concerned by the claims and launched an immediate full internal investigation into the matter and submitted lollipops from the product batch in question for independent testing.
After performing a thorough microbiological analysis on these samples, however, independent laboratory KLM High-Giene Solutions has verified that the lollipops were free of any bacterial contamination or causes that could relate to ill health.
IOL
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