The Egyptian government on Thursday stopped free school meals after an outbreak of mass poisoning among pupils in several parts of the country over the past few days.
Education Minister Tarek Shawki said that the meals would be suspended nationwide starting from Thursday “until further notice.”
A state committee will be formed to investigate the incidents, the minister said.
On Wednesday, 312 school children were taken to hospitals in Cairo, the coastal city of Suez and Aswan in southern Egypt after showing symptoms of food poisoning, state-run newspaper al-Ahram reported.
The children suffered colic, vomiting and a slight fever after eating biscuits and other dried food provided for free by the government.
The incidents were the latest in a series of mass poisoning among pupils in state-run schools in which the school meals are suspected.
According to the report, more than 3,000 school children in the southern Egyptian province of Sohag were treated for food poisoning after they ate school lunches including processed cheese, dried sweets and bread.
President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi has ordered an investigation into that incident.
Public schools in rural and working-class areas in Egypt provide free meals for pupils with the aim of keeping them healthy.
Critics claim these meals sometimes go bad because of improper storage. (dpa/NAN)
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