Food poisoning warning after Christchurch school children served mouldy lunches

Mould: The lunches given to students at Haeata Community Campus were covered in 'furry stuff'.

A food poisoning warning has been issued after several Christchurch school children ate school lunches covered in thick mould.

The meals, provided as part of the Government’s school lunch programme, were eaten by some students today before a teacher intervened.

Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows said as soon as teachers realised the food was “mouldy and furry” they leapt into action.

“One of the teachers decided that they would have lunch because, of course, we are encouraged to eat the lunches as well,” Burrows said.

The meals were covered in "furry stuff".

Burrows said when the teacher opened their lunch, they realised the food looked like it had “gone off”.

“We immediately stopped everything and went out and gathered up as many as we could and took them from children,” Burrows said.

“But some of the ones that were already in the waste disposal unit had been opened and some of the content had been eaten.”

Burrows said she had requested parents and caregivers to monitor their children for any symptoms of food poisoning.

“I‘m saying to parents they need to be checking the children when they get home, in case they’ve ingested enough of it to give them food poisoning.”

Burrows said no children had “any visible signs of food poisoning” and that a registered nurse from the school had been visiting classes to check on students.

Compass Group NZ and Gilmours form a partnership to supply meals under the School Lunch Collective.

Burrows said the Compass Group was the provider of the contaminated lunches but of two batches provided to the school, only one appeared to have mould.

“We alerted them immediately,” Burrows said.

“Obviously, I’m sure that they would be horrified.

“I honestly don’t know how this has happened, but it’s totally unacceptable.”

Burrows said the provider’s “most senior person” was on their way to the school.

Helen Hurst, Hautū (Leader) Operations and Integration, Ministry of Education, said they were investigating the incident.

“We have been in touch with the school,” she said.

“There are no reports of student illness. We have advised the school to monitor students, and any illness is to be reported to Te Whatu Ora.

“We are working with MPI on this investigation. No other school has reported any issues with today’s lunches.”

A School Lunch Collective spokesperson said they were working with the school and MPI to better understand what has happened.

”We take pride in our food quality and know this is something that cannot be compromised.

“Our kitchens are verified and audited regularly by an independent MPI-verified provider, and we follow the Food Act, Food Control Plans and related regulations.

“These measures have been in place since the beginning of the programme.”

The Compass Group has been approached for comment.

The catering giant is not included in a list of suppliers recently announced to deliver primary school lunches under the next chapter of David Seymour’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako scheme.

Contract winners include long-term providers such as Cafe Mahia, which Seymour previously said had a track record for being able to deliver lunches to isolated schools even during flooding and road closures.

“The regional approach was found to best meet the needs of contributing primary schools in New Zealand.”

Other suppliers are Appresso Pro Foods, Montana Group, Ka Pai Kai, KDJ Catering, Star Fresh, University of Canterbury Student Association (UCSA), Knuckles (The Food Company), The Y Gisborne, Pita Pit and Subway.

The suppliers chosen will deliver lunches to 188 primary schools under the national Ka Ora, Ka Ako scheme.

Since the beginning of Term 1, the programme has delivered more than 13.8 million meals, to 242,000 students, in 1011 schools nationally.

Jazlyn Whales is a multimedia journalist based in the Christchurch newsroom.