CHINA has been hit by a fourth mass food poisoning incident in a week. Thirty-four students were hospitalized with suspected food poisoning after eating lunch at a factory cafeteria in Fujian Province on Tuesday, food safety authorities said yesterday.

The food watchdog is analyzing fare from the cafeteria of the Guanda Garment Company in the provincial capital of Fuzhou after receiving reports that the 34 students from two technical secondary schools had fallen ill. The officials suspect that mushrooms in the meal might be the source of the poisoning.

The students, who were doing field work in the firm, developed cramps, vomiting and diarrhea and were taken to hospital on Tuesday afternoon where they were diagnosed with suspected food poisoning. All were discharged after treatment. The exact cause of the food poisoning is still unknown and an investigation is in progress.

The incident follows hot on the heels of three other mass poisonings in the country this month.

On Monday, more than 60 migrant workers in Shanghai were hospitalized with food poisoning after eating supper at a construction site cafeteria.

Also on Monday, 19 middle-school students were hospitalized with suspected food poisoning after eating lunch in a school cafeteria in Changchun, capital of northeast Jilin Province.

On April 9, more than 200 people fell ill and one person died In Harbin in northeastern China after they ate a hospital breakfast suspected of being contaminated with rat poison.

With food poisoning cases frequently reported to have caused deaths and injuries in China, the government is expected to issue a comprehensive plan to track and trace food products. According to authorities on standardizing market economic order, the national guidelines for food and drug safety have been approved by the State Council and will be soon promulgated.

China will in the next five years enhance the safety Assessment of food and drug and the monitoring of drugs and Medical equipment, and better handle safety incidents in the field, the authorities said. Food and drug safety has become a major concern of Chinese people.

According to a survey by the State Food and Drug Administration, 65 percent of the respondents worried about food safety.

Several drug safety incidents also occurred in China last year, the most notorious causing the deaths of at least six patients and severe side-effects in more than 80 others.

Source:佚名