Six elementary schools and two junior high schools reported 255 cases of food poisoning regarding the likes of children, students and teachers after they ate meals prepared by a school lunch preparation center in the town of Wakasa, reports the Asahi Shimbun on Monday (May 24).
The prefecture said it was informed by multiple medical institutions that they had been admitting throngs of people reporting symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting since noon on Sunday.
All of the hospitalized victims said they ate the same school lunches prepared by the meal preparation center, leading prefecture officials to conclude the center’s lunches had caused food poisoning.
Mayor Hiroshi Morishita apologized at a press conference.
“I hope to identify the cause as fast as possible and work on hygiene management to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Morishita said.
