Chicago Students Sickened By School Lunches Tainted With Rat Poop (UPDATE: Mouse Poop)
By Samantha Abernethy in Food on Oct 12, 2012 7:40PM
Mike Flippo / shutterstock.com
Several Chicago Public Schools students became sick after they ate school lunches that the school says were contaminated with "rat droppings." Call it what it is: The school fed the kids poop.
Emil G. Hirsch Metropolitan High School on the South Side stopped serving the hot lunches, and CPS is bringing in pest control over the weekend.
CPS spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus said there had previously been a rumor that the students had eaten food containing rat poison. Gee, good thing it was just poop!
“When the problem was brought to our attention, we took immediate steps to close the kitchen and to provide the students with cold lunches,” Sainvilus said in an email to CBS.
UPDATE 10/13: Authorities determined the students were eating nachos that were contaminated with mouse, not rat, droppings.
“It was at the end of the lunch period. Some students eating the nachos got to the bottom and saw the droppings. Staff immediately closed the kitchen, and emptied everything out,” CPS spokeswoman Sainvilus told the Sun-Times.