New Jersey health officials on Thursday recalled Guida’s Dairy brand milk after tainted school milk sent at least three dozen preschoolers and kindergartners to hospitals a day earlier.


What You Need To Know

  • New Jersey health officials on Thursday recalled Guida’s Dairy brand milk after tainted school milk sent at least three dozen preschoolers and kindergartners to hospitals a day earlier

  • The Camden City School District said in social media posts Wednesday that school officials investigated possible contamination of milk at the Early Childhood Development Center and determined that inside the cartons there was a “non-toxic consumable sanitizer that runs through the vendor machines prior to milk"

  • The New Jersey Department of Health’s Public Health and Food Protection Program issued a recall Thursday and requested that all local health departments check each public school’s cafeterias for the presence of Guida’s milk of any type, size and code date, and remove whatever they may find

  • Guida’s Dairy said it is disposing of all its 1% low-fat, half-pint milk cartons with a sell-by date of April 11 after determining a food-grade sanitizer diluted with water was inadvertently introduced into the milk

The Camden City School District said in social media posts Wednesday that school officials investigated possible contamination of milk at the Early Childhood Development Center and determined that inside the cartons there was a “non-toxic consumable sanitizer that runs through the vendor machines prior to milk.”

“Unfortunately, many cartons were filled with the sanitizer, sealed, and then shipped out with the milk,” the school district said. 

The district said it pulled all milk from cafeterias and would not serve any until its investigation was complete.

Twenty-three students from the school were transported to two area hospitals for evaluation, and all were discharged Wednesday, school officials said. 

The milk had an “antiseptic-like odor” to it, officials said. Some students were vomiting, NJ.com reported.

Shortly after that incident, Camden school officials were alerted to more kids becoming sick at Riletta Twyne Cream Early Childhood Development Center. Five other children, who also were all released, were taken to a hospital.

"This was a scary situation but thankfully, everyone who was exposed to the milk is in stable condition and either back at school or home," Camden County Health Officer Paschal Nwako said in a statement. "This investigation is ongoing, and our department will get to the bottom of this situation.”

The New Jersey Department of Health’s Public Health and Food Protection Program issued a recall Thursday and requested that all local health departments check each public school’s cafeterias for the presence of Guida’s milk of any type, size and code date, and remove whatever they may find.

Camden officials said four schools had been impacted there by the tainted milk.

In a statement to Spectrum News on Thursday, Guida’s Dairy said it is disposing of all its 1% low-fat, half-pint milk cartons with a sell-by date of April 11 after determining a food-grade sanitizer diluted with water was inadvertently introduced into the milk. 

“Nothing is more important than the well-being and health of those we serve,” the Connecticut-based company said. “Once we were made aware of this issue, we took immediate action and tested impacted product to verify there is no food safety risk associated with this product.”

Guida’s added that it believes there are a limited number of cartons that were contaminated and that the affected product is not sold at retail outlets.

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