Community Chat

[gardenman]

I suspect what happened is the machines used to fill the milk containers were cleaned using the sanitizer and then not properly rinsed out afterward. Then the remaining sanitizer got mixed with the milk and that led to the issue.

How could that happen? Much of manufacturing is automated these days. If the rinse water used after the sanitizer didn't flow properly (clogged nozzle, a kink in the supply line, etc.) then the automated system may have assumed everything was fine and filled the cartons with a mix of milk and residual sanitizer. It could also have been human error and whoever used the sanitizer forgot to rinse it out afterward.

There are lots of procedures in place for cleaning equipment in food handling facilities and sometimes things go wrong. At least the sanitizer used was a consumable type and relatively safe. Things could have been much worse.

[PickyPicky3]

UPDATE: There are no updates that I know of.

Number of schools involved: 1-4

Number of children affected: 25-40

Number of hospitals treating children: 1-3

Number of children admitted: 0-a few

What was in the milk containers: contaminated milk; or just hand sanitizer; or just cleaning sanitizer.

What seems to have happened is Camden City Schools will not make any statements because the situation is under investigation. There's no other official info source. News outlets are dropping the story until they can get some reliable facts to report. Hopefully the state or county health department will say something.

[MorningLover]

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio)... The school district said that all of the milk was pulled, and they will not serve any milk until the investigation is wrapped up.

Chief Communications Officer Valerie Merritt, said Guida’s Dairy manufactured the milk. Cream-O-Land Dairy distributes it through district food service provider Aramark.

KYW Newsradio reached out to Guida’s, who sent the following response late Wednesday night.

"At Guida’s Dairy of New Britain, Conn., we are working with our distributor to dispose of 1%, low-fat half-pint milk cartons with a sell-by date of APR 11, after determining that a food-grade sanitizer diluted with water was inadvertently introduced during production. A chemical smell is associated with the product.

"Nothing is more important than the well-being and health of those we serve. Once we were made aware of this issue, we took immediate action and tested the impacted product to verify there is no food safety risk associated with this product.

"While we believe the product impacted is limited, out of an abundance of caution, we are working with the distributor to dispose of any 1%, low-fat half-pint milk cartons with a sell by date of APR 11. The affected product is not available at retail outlets for consumer purchase.

"The quality of our products is deeply important to the Guida’s Dairy team. We are working with all appropriate regulatory agencies to make them aware of this issue and taking the necessary corrective actions."

[PickyPicky3]

Thank you, @MorningLover , for editing down that KYW radio story. The subheadline states "33 children hospitalized." What does that mean to readers/listeners? To me, it means they were admitted.  Further down in the article it says "33 children were taken to the hospital as a precaution." That's different. 

Years ago when I taught freshman writing in college as an adjunct, I would BEG my students to proofread at least once. They would tell me they hated doing it and felt it was a waste of time.

[PickyPicky3]

At 4:00 pm the Philadelphia Inquirer released a summary.

53 children and one staff member from four schools were treated and released at two hospitals and also on-site at the schools. The primary symptom was vomiting.

The sanitizer is called Vortexx.

A few nearby school districts have also pulled their milk, but so far it seems to be limited to Camden schools.

The Camden County Health Department is continuing the investigation.

[golding76]

Ecolab Data Sheet on Vortexx Sanitizer

  It specifcally states that it is harmful if ingested or inhaled.  Does amount of Vortexx come into play?  I do not know.

http://chemstarworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VORTEXX_English.pdf

[Snoopp]

I saw a report on this...it was described as "edible", however, if this is true, why would so many need to be sent to the ER feeling ill.  Those poor kids.