Students and parents are likely to be the losers in the aftermath of the country¡¯s biggest food poisoning scandal, where more than 1,200 students fell ill after eating CJ-supplied school lunches. The caterer said Monday it was pulling out over the scandal, and many other suppliers say they are packing it in or cutting down operations. Schools are unwilling to run their own cafeterias, not least because that would leave the onus of providing hygienic food on them. The government has yet to come up with a response.
 |
|
Prime Minister Han Myung-sook inspects the cafeteria kitchen at Soongeui Girls¡¯ Middle School on Tuesday after some 2,000 children came down with food poisoning in the country¡¯s biggest incident of the kind./Yonhap
|
 |
|
Amid all this, another suspected large-scale food poisoning incident took place in some schools in Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Tuesday some 324 students in four schools showed symptoms of food poisoning after eating in school cafeterias operated by Dongwon Catering, SF Catering and CJ Food System on June 22.
Trust in school meals is blown, and the country¡¯s second and third largest suppliers, Our Home and Everland, are also trying to reduce their school catering business. ¡°The Education Ministry, schools and parents all have different opinions on school meals, but all blame it on us,¡± an industry insider said. ¡°
But schools will have a hard time running their own cafeterias because of the huge cost and logistics, not to mention the lack of someone else to blame if things go wrong. Amid such conflicting interests, students will be eating pack lunches for a good while yet as the problem drags on.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
