UPDATE: Bad Cheese In School Lunches Sickened Matteson Students
Southtown Star Reporting
MATTESON--Tainted cheese is suspected as the culprit which made 21 Woodgate Elementary School children sick, including some who were hospitalized.
All vomited or had severe stomach pains after eating lunch Friday at school .
Preferred Meal Systems, based in Berkeley, provides lunches for the school district, Supt. Eric King said.
"In terms of a cause, we're in the process of investigating. Pretzels and cheese is a possible source. We just hope the students are going to be OK," King said.
A woman who answered a call to Preferred Meal Systems directed calls to Joseph Bistrizky, CEO of parent company Marymount Corp., of Brooklyn, N.Y. But Bistrizky is “out of the country” and unavailable for comment.
Several officials and students suspect melted cheese served on pretzels is the cause.
Second-grader Ezekiel Robinson, 8, knew there was trouble she he saw the cheese.
"It had blue spots on it. I tasted it and threw it away. I spit it out. I had to eat my fruit cup to get the taste out of my mouth," he said.
Ezekiel's brother, Dennis Jaylon Foster, 11, said seven or eight kids in his fifth-grade class became sick.
Their grandmother, Jesse Robinson, said Dennis is "healthy as a horse" although his name initially was listed among the sick school children.
And Robinson said it is not the first time her grandsons have complained about their school lunches.
"I think the school is going to have to look at the food service they have. Many times (the boys) come home hungry. They say the pizza was still frozen or food was undercooked. What's the purpose of bringing the food in if it's not going to be cooked and healthy for them to eat?" she asked.
Fourteen of the students were taken for treatment to area hospitals; the remaining ill students , and seven were sent home with their parents, Matteson Fire Chief Nick Wilkens said. Spokesmen for South Suburban, Ingalls and St. James hospitals declined comment.
The children began vomiting or complaining about upset stomachs and nausea "15 to 20 minutes after they ate lunch," said Dan Thompson, director of pupil services for Elementary School District 159.
The children ate lunch between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m., and some began feeling ill at an assembly in the school. The school has 325 students, Wilkens said.
"If the food is contaminated, you're going to get sick from it," Wilkens said.
Investigators from the Cook County Department of Public Health will talk with hospital personnel about the students and their conditions, spokeswoman Kitty Loewy said.
"We need to determine what they ate in common," Loewy said.
Emergency crews from Matteson, Flossmoor, Richton Park, Park Forest, Frankfort, Country Club Hills, University Park, Homewood and Chicago Heights responded to the call, Wilkens said.
Copyright 2008 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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