Tainted shake sends 160 students to hospital

More than 160 high school students were rushed to different hospitals on Friday after experiencing symptoms of food poisoning in Novaliches, Quezon City.

According to the reports, students from Sta. Lucia High School started to be rushed to their school clinic at around 1 p.m. after experiencing nausea, stomachache and vomiting.

The students blamed the flavored shake they bought from the school canteen as probable cause for the food poisoning incident.

Some of the victims said that the flavored shake they bought smelled like soap and tasted bitter. The students reportedly partook of the tainted shake during recess and lunch break.

Jona Delgado, a mother of one of the students, said that her daughter experienced severe stomachache after drinking the shake that had the taste of bleaching detergent.

"Sumakit yung tiyan niya tapos nahihilo daw siya at namumutla na. Sabi niya parang sinusunog daw ang tiyan niya. Kaunti lang daw ang nainom niya pero katulad pa rin dun sa mga maraming nainom. (Her stomach started to ache, then she said she started to fill dizzy, and look pale. She said it felt like her stomach was on fire. She said she only drank a little of the shake but the effect was the same felt by those who drank a lot)," Delgado said.

Some of the students brought to the Novaliches District Hospital, Quezon City General Hospital, Bernardino General Hospital, FEU Hospital, and Fairview General Hospital were declared in stable condition by physician and have already been discharged.

Hospital officials did not give any details about the possible cause of the mass food poisoning.

The school administration have yet to release a statement as they were still investigating the incident.