Food poisoning : Students fall sick at the school canteen

A private school in the Kingdom was found to running a canteen for students without proper approvals after several students there fell sick. Chief Prosecutor of Ministries and Public Bodies said the Public Prosecution launched an investigation after receiving a notice from the Public Health Directorate on the incident.

Laboratory examination of food samples later confirmed the presence of contaminated foodstuff. Investigators found that the canteen was run by the school principal without taking necessary approvals from the Public Health Directorate.

It was also found that food was brought to the school canteen by a company owned by the Principal and her husband. The Public Prosecution accused her of trading in foodstuff that is unfit for human consumption and harmful to health, running a foodstuff outlet without registration, negligence in cleaning and maintaining the outlet and taking up a commercial activity without authorisation. The case was referred to the Low Criminal Court.