Over 65 Children Poisoned by Food Given by Peru School Program

About 70 Peruvian schoolchildren between 10 and 15 years of age began showing symptoms of poisoning after eating food provided by a state-run social program in northern Lambayeque province, local media reported.

The children were admitted on Monday afternoon to several hospitals in the area after they began vomiting after eating bread with tuna and milk with boiled oats provided by the Qali Warma program, RPP Noticias reported.

The La Republica Web site said that the children are students at state-run schools in the Mochumi and Illimo districts, to which the regional coordinators of the food program were dispatched to assess the situation.

The Qali Warma food program has had similar problems in the past, situations that the coordinators attribute to poor handling of the food by the providers, both businesses and individuals.

Published in Latino Daily News