The School Lunch Collective is probing a “food quality issue” after students at Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch received mouldy mince.
The collective acts on behalf of Compass Group, the contractor tasked with supplying government-funded lunches to the Christchurch school.
Haeata Community Campus, catering to Years 1 through 13, reported that a teacher detected the spoiled lunches after they reached multiple students.
Campus principal Peggy Burrows said the teachers immediately sprang into action upon realising the food was “mouldy and furry.”
“One of the teachers decided that they would have lunch because, of course, we are encouraged to eat the lunches as well,” Burrows said.
Burrows explained that when a teacher opened their lunch, they immediately noticed the food appeared to have “gone off.”
“We immediately stopped everything and went out and gathered up as many as we could and took them from children,” Burrows said.
“But some of the ones that were already in the waste disposal unit had been opened, and some of the content had been eaten.”
Burrows asked parents and caregivers to carefully watch for any signs of food poisoning in their children.
She said only one of the two batches delivered to the school showed signs of mould contamination.
“We alerted them immediately,” Burrows said.
“Obviously, I’m sure that they would be horrified.
A School Lunch Collective spokesperson said they are collaborating with the school and MPI to determine the cause of the incident.
“Our kitchens are verified and audited regularly by an independent MPI-verified provider, and we follow the Food Act, Food Control Plans and related regulations.
“These measures have been in place since the beginning of the programme,” the spokesperson said.