GOPENG: Stern action will be taken if a health investigation traces the food poisoning among students of Sekolah Izzuddin Shah in Ipoh on April 6 to the canteen.

       Perak Education, Higher Education and Human Resource Committee chairman Ahmad Saidi Mohamad Daud (pic) said they were waiting for a complete report from the state Health Department on the bout of diarrhoea among some students.

       "Of course, if we receive a complete report that the school food operator (canteen) has fouled up, appropriate action will be taken to prevent a recurrence as it involves health issues among students," he added.

       He said this after attending the Perak Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS) Baju Raya programme with orphans at a supermarket at the Gopeng Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) here Saturday (April 16).

       According to Ahmad Saidi, his committee had referred the school for investigation after the incident spread on social media, to find the real cause for mitigation measures to be taken.

       "However, the health clinic found that the students were not critical so they were allowed to return to the hostel for normal treatment, while the school granted them additional leave," he said.

       “So far only one school has reported food poisoning and said there were worms in the food while students were down with diarrhoea," he said.

       On Monday (April 11), the school's principal Ahmad Munawir Salehuddin said on the school's official Facebook page that the school management had taken appropriate measures of informing the district health office, with wardens monitoring the situation.

       His statement was made after a text message from a father who was upset that he was not informed about his son's food poisoning went viral on social media.

       The message said that the man only found out about the incident when his son contacted him after his condition had improved.

       Ahmad Munawir reportedly said early symptoms were detected last Wednesday (April 13) when a fourth former had diarrhoea before cases escalated, causing the warden to isolate sickened students for monitoring and informed police through school liaison officers.

       On Thursday, a day after the incident, the school management detected more students with similar symptoms and they were taken to the Greentown Health Clinic where all of them were diagnosed as non-critical. - Bernama