WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Hundreds and possibly thousands of children in the United States become sick from contaminated food served in school cafeterias, USA Today reports.
The newspaper examined cases reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1998 and 2007. It found 470 outbreaks of food-borne illness during that period, with at least 23,000 children becoming ill.
Foods responsible for illness included chocolate milk, chicken tenders, turkey and pasta.
In more than half the cases, investigators were unable to identify a bacterium or virus responsible for an outbreak. In other cases they have identified the pathogen while being unable to determine which food was contaminated.
Many cases of food-borne illness are not reported to the CDC, including some in schools. Sometimes, administrators do not realize cases are connected.
Congress plans to take a new look next year at the Child Nutrition Act to determine ways to make school lunches safer, the report said.
