34 Orphaned Girls In Pune Suffer From Alleged Food Poisoning Caused By Donated Meal

34 girls between the age group of five to 15 living in an orphanage in Pune have been admitted to the hospital after consuming a donated meal reports the Pune Mirror. They were given a meal of snacks, sweets and khichdi after which they began to complain of vomiting and nausea. While 11 of them are still admitted and are under a stable condition, remaining 23 girls have been discharged.

Donated Food Cause Sickness

The report further says that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has collected food samples of the meal consumed by the girls and have sent it for examination at one of the labs in the city. “The girls consumed samosas, ladoos and moong dal-rice khichdi around 4 pm,” the founder of Work for Equality orphanage, Prabha Jadhav told the Pune Mirror. “They were all fine at first, but around 8 pm, three girls started complaining of vomiting, stomach ache and weakness — and slowly, the number increased.”

She added that, “To be on the safe side, we took them all to the hospital and they were screened by doctors. Most of them eventually started complained of uneasiness, so they were provided medicines and kept under observation. We had 23 girls discharged on Tuesday morning and 11 are still in the hospital. None of the food was provided by us — all the snacks were given by a visitor on the occasion of their son’s birthday. The khichdi was also prepared from groceries donated by this same visitor.”

Condition Of The Girls

The girls who consumed the food and complained of nausea were admitted to the Talegaon General Hospital where Dr Vijay Bhavari a paediatrician examined them. He told the Pune Mirror that “After the initial screening, medicines were given to the girls and they were kept under observation. Most of the 11 who are still in hospital had complained of nausea and giddiness. Prima facie, it seems to be a case of food intolerance. Some girls were given IV fluids to recover faster. The admitted girls are stable and will most probably be discharged on Wednesday.”

After collection of the food by the FDA, the association feels that the girls were given stale food to eat. “Samples have been taken of the samosas, boondi ladoos and khichdi. It is a clear case of consumption of stale food, as these snacks should be consumed within four hours of preparation. They are safe to consume after a longer period only if they have been kept at proper temperatures, and are re-heated. The samples have been sent to the government laboratory immediately and their reports are awaited,” said Sampat Deshmukh, Assistant commissioner of FDA (food) while speaking to the Pune Mirror.