Bad milk sends 34 students to hospital
NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Thirty-four primary school students in Muang district were taken to hospital yesterday morning when they fell ill after drinking milk supplied under the school milk project.
Seven were admitted to intensive care.
The Grades 4-6 students at Ban Nong Rangka School in tambon Khok Kruat complained of dizziness and began vomiting after drinking milk distributed in class.
Seven of the sick students were admitted to the Mother and Children Hospital and 27 to Debaratana Nakhonratchasima Hospital.
At Debaratana Nakhonratchasima Hospital, seven students were admitted to intensive care, and the others were put under observation after receiving medication.
A Grade 4 student who received treatment at the hospital said the milk she drank tasted awful and made her sick half an hour after drinking it.
Rungruang Kanjanawattana, Khok Kruat tambon mayor, visited students at the hospital and said the milk was produced and supplied by Suranaree Technology University's livestock farm, also contracted to supply milk to four other schools.
There were no reports of students from other schools that received the same lot of milk falling sick yesterday.
School director Charoen Srisaenpang said the milk was sent to the school every morning and the expiry date on the milk packs was June 17.
The pasteurised milk that comes in soft plastic packaging is produced under the school milk project, which is funded by local administration organisations.
About 12,000 bags of milk from the same lot were recalled by the university, according to Mr Charoen.
Public health personnel and officials from the epidemiology department at Debaratana Nakhonratchasima Hospital collected samples of the milk for testing. Results are expected next week, an official said.
At press time, almost all students had been released from hospital. Only one female student remained hospitalised for monitoring.
On June 3, almost 100 students at Sanambin School in Khon Kaen were taken to hospital after drinking school milk supplied by the Khon Kaen Dairy Cooperative.
On June 8, the cooperative replaced UHT milk with pasteurised milk packages for the school. However, one student drank the milk and found it was sour.
The school kept the milk to be returned to the cooperative for analysis.
The cooperative said the UHT milk was produced by the Dairy Farming Promotion Organisation of Thailand's northeastern branch.