Total Defence programme halted while probe into Sota food poisoning is ongoing

The authorities are suspending the Total Defence food resilience programme until a probe into the 20 cases of food poisoning at the School of the Arts (Sota) is completed.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Ministry of Education (MOE), Agency for Integrated Care and food solutions provider Sats, in a joint Facebook statement on Feb 20, said an investigation into the cause of the gastroenteritis cases at the school is under way.

Sota students had consumed ready-to-eat meals during a food resilience preparedness session, which was part of efforts to mark Total Defence Day in schools.

The statement said that up until Feb 19, 20 students from Sota were reported to have developed gastroenteritis symptoms.

"None were hospitalised, and teachers have and will continue to check in with students on their well-being. As a precautionary measure, Sota is collecting back the unconsumed ready-to-eat meals that have been distributed."

It added that SFA and MOE are working on putting in place further precautionary measures at "participating venues", including replacing the ready-to-eat meals produced from the same batch.

Early investigations suggest this is an isolated incident, the authorities added.

On Feb 19, Sota learnt that a number of its students who had eaten the ready-to-eat meals had fallen sick with food poisoning symptoms.

About 20 students were reported to have experienced symptoms, which is about 1 per cent of the number of Sota students who ate the meals, the authorities said.

Students have since been told to return the unconsumed meals, said Sota vice-principal Ann Tan in an e-mail to parents.