Dhaka, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 – The World Food Programme has deployed a team of experts to investigate an outbreak of sickness among school children in the eastern Bangladeshi district of Khagrachari. The children reportedly became unwell after eating high energy fortified biscuits provided by WFP as a part of a school feeding programme.  | | Our prime concern is for the affected children and we take any possibility of a food-related illness very seriously. WFP gives highest priority to the quality and safety of the food we distribute |  | | John Aylieff, WFP Bangladesh Representative |
“Our prime concern is for the affected children and we take any possibility of a food-related illness very seriously. WFP gives highest priority to the quality and safety of the food we distribute,” said John Aylieff, WFP Bangladesh Representative, adding that WFP is awaiting the results of independent lab tests to verify scientifically whether the biscuits are the cause of the problem. Ayleiff said there was no evidence yet as to whether the symptoms were due to the biscuits or other reasons, but WFP was not taking any chances. The agency immediately suspended biscuit distributions in the affected district and is carrying out lab testing and related assessments as a matter of urgency. The tests will take a few days to complete. The WFP Representative stated this was the first time since the school feeding programme started in 2002 that problems of this kind have occurred. More than one million children in 7,000 schools across the country are covered by the WFP school meal programme. A medical team, logistics expert and quality control staff are working on establishing the cause of the outbreak. Samples have been taken and sent to food-testing labs in Dhaka and in Bangkok. The preliminary report of the Institute of Food and Science Technology (BCSIR) tests should be available by 4 June. Once lab reports are available, WFP will take appropriate action in consultation with the Bangladeshi government. | | The quality of biscuits is systematically tested and checked in two phases, firstly through laboratory tests carried out on each batch at the factory and secondly, by an internationally reputed independent quality control agency before delivery | | | El-fatih Bakhiet, WFP’s head of logistics in Bangladesh. |
“The quality of biscuits is systematically tested and checked in two phases, firstly through laboratory tests carried out on each batch at the factory and secondly, by an internationally reputed independent quality control agency before delivery,” said WFP’s head of logistics in Bangladesh, El-fatih Bakhiet. “Biscuits are delivered to the schools only after the quality control reports have certified them as being of good quality and fully fit for human consumption. Both reports were positive in the case of the biscuits in question, therefore the subsequent laboratory reports will be doubly important.” WFP uses 13 different private enterprises to produce biscuits for its school feeding programme. Given that biscuits used in Khagrachari originate from one factory, and there have been no problems reported in other parts of the country, WFP-supported schools of other parts of the country have been requested to continue the school feeding programme as usual. Aylieff praised the local authorities’ speedy reaction to the situation, and stressed again that WFP regarded it as a matter of the utmost concern. “We strongly commend our local partners and supporters, including the local civil surgeon office, the local military authority, UNDP’s mobile medical teams and the media, who immediately brought the issue to our attention and have extended their full support,” he added. |
