19 children hospitalized for suspected food poisoning

Abdul Khalik The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Avoid "kids". It's called a catering firm, not just "a catering". We name the parent, poor guy, but not the catering firm more likely to be responsible -- what is the name of the firm?!!

Police are investigating a catering firm after 19 children who attended a birthday party in Cipinang, East Jakarta, were rushed to hospitals with suspected food poisoning over the weekend.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said police would decide soon whether people from the catering firm should be charged over the incident.

"We are now interviewing the parents who organized the birthday party as well as several people from the catering firm. A sample of food has been brought to our laboratory to determine whether it was contaminated," Tjiptono said.

Police were waiting for the test results before they declared anyone a suspect, he said.

To make his children happy on his birthday, a parent, Leon Rapel Batubara, invited other children from neighborhood for a party and hired the local XXX XXXX catering company nearby his house.

"Initially, the party went fine. But after the dinner most children started to throw up, and some of them became unconscious," Tjiptono said.

Eight children were treated at the Persahabatan Hospital, eight at the Jayakarta Hospital, and three at the Gatot Subroto Hospital.

Several parents reported the case to the Pulo Gadung Police.

The alleged food poisoning was the latest in a series of cases involving catering firms in the past few months.

Over 10 cases of food poisoning (in the city?/nationwide?) have occurred in 2005 while the Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BP POM) said cases had increased in 2004 and 2005.

On Feb. 1, dozens of employees of SCTV had to be brought to hospital because of poisoning from catered food when they celebrated the station's birthday.

A month later 78 workers of a thread factory in Bogor and dozens of workers from a factory in Bekasi also became ill.

According to data from BP POM, 63 cases of food poisoning occurred (in the city?/nationwide?) in 2004 with 3,316 people becoming sick and 14 dying. The agency found 43 cases in 2003 and predict incidents would rise in 2005.

Tjiptono said police would closely monitor catering companies in the city to avoid similar incident from repeating.

"Catering firms should make sure that they served hygienic fresh food," he said.