ALAPUZZAH: Students of Sports Authority of India's (SAI) water sports centre in the district complained that they were fed stale food from June 1 after 14 of them were admitted to the General Hospital following food poisoning on Sunday night.
Of the lot, 10 were discharged on Monday morning. District collector R Girija and SAI principal G Kishore have sought a report in connection with the incident from Gopalakrishnan K, who is in charge of SAI's Alappuzha centre.
Last year on May 6, four budding athletes from this very centre had tried to commit suicide to escape 'mental agony'. Rower Aparna lost her life, while her three friends recovered.
Resident medical officer Anas Salih said that students were probably served chicken and milk past their sell by date and it resulted in abdominal pain, upset stomach, diarrhoea and vomiting.
"They told me that the chicken and milk were smelly and had a foul taste. It is a case of food poisoning and their condition is stable now. Four of them are recovering from exhaustion," he said. The district collector instructed SAI authorities to procure of food items from a new dealer.
Officials of the district medical office, food safety department and the police collected food samples and recorded the statements of students. SAI Thiruvananthapuram deputy director Premjithlal and Dr George Thomas conducted an inquiry.
Rower Asif Shajahan (14) said there were no problems till June as the food was cooked and supplied by SAI. "From June 1, a private agency took over our catering needs and it was bread they supplied with chicken and milk. For breakfast and lunch, we got bread, jam, milk and two eggs. They gave bread and chicken curry for dinner. The food had a foul taste bread was mouldy," said Asif, who is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Akshay Suresh (16) recounted Sunday night's events. "Around 8pm, 14 students ate dinner - bread, chicken and milk. The chicken and milk were stale and smelt weird. Bread was rather musty. Around 8.30 pm, we experienced stomach pain, diarrhoea and nausea. We were taken to hospital at 9 pm after we complained," he said.
Gopalakrishnan said SAI had chosen Karthika Agency from Kollam for supplying food items from June 1. "We invited tenders from private agencies to supply food items in May. However, this agency, which supplies food items to SAI centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Thrissur, submitted a tender. Now, we have stopped chicken, milk and bread supplies from the agency. They only provide other grocery items," he said.
Meanwhile, North circle inspector Babu V said they had registered a case of food poisoning in connection with the incident based on the statements of doctors and inquiry was on.
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