Biscuit mystery

With food poisoning cases multiplying in public schools, the various ministries in charge deny responsibility. Reem Nafie reports

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At around 12 noon everyday, meals subsidised by the government are distributed to pupils attending public schools. The meal consists of biscuits, cheese, bread and fruit. Primary school pupils are usually the most enthusiastic to see the "packaged meal". "The young students are usually the ones that are hungry by that time and as soon as the meal is distributed, they start munching on the biscuits immediately," Sayeda Fathi, an administrator in a public school in Helwan said.

Nevertheless, many students who had once munched on the government's biscuits now would never dare to "even look at one", Fathi says. "Children are now warned by their parents before coming to school that no matter how hungry they are, they should never eat the biscuits," she says.

This March has witnessed over 100 cases of food poisoning in schools across Cairo, Giza, Kafr Al-Sheikh, added to 40 students in the governorate of Minya and 35 in Assiut. The children have two things in common: they are all primary school pupils and all became sick after eating their school meals.

According to Fawzi Ali, in charge of the school meal programme in the Ministry of Education, "none of the schools with illness reports had made contracts with companies which received approval from the Ministry of Supply."

Fawzi explained that the Ministry of Supply provides licences to approved companies that manufacture and distribute school meals. "Each school is given recommendations on which companies are suitable to supply goods to schools," he said.

Supposedly, after the company is approved, the Ministry of Health should check and monitor the quality of food the company produces. Spot checks are made of the factory's conditions and the composition of food is analysed on a regular basis. Reports are then submitted to the Ministry of Supply which informs the Ministry of Education of which companies to deal with.

Each school district is responsible for making its own contracts. Companies make bids and education officials are supposed to accept the lowest bidder of those the Ministry of Supply has approved. Nevertheless, many schools prefer not to deal with companies and accept donations from those willing to provide school meals. Ali says, "if schools insist on dealing with donors then there is nothing we can do about it. Many schools prefer to take the money allocated for school meals and spend it on other areas in need improvement in the school."

Does that mean that students are left to accept food from just anybody, with no supervision regarding food health or quality? Apparently, yes. According to Ministry of Health officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, "the food we approve is perfectly fine. If the food [used] is not approved by our ministry then we can not be held responsible."

Mohamed Khairi, a pediatrician in Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, suggested that because iron was added to the biscuits in high percentages, they could be poisonous if ingested. However, Ministry of Health officials deemed this assessment "ridiculous".

Minister of Education Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin told the press that at this time of the year there are claims that schools meals are poisonous; nevertheless "it is not true". Bahaeddin argued that because March is the month where schools renew their contracts with the food-providing companies, there are those who invent "false propaganda" so that the ministry is forced to sign contracts with other companies.

"Nearly LE354 million is spent on school meals every year, providing nearly 10 million students with daily meals," Bahaeddin said. "It is impossible that we would allow all this money to go to waste," he argued.

However, the current food poisoning episode is not the first of its kind. In October of 1998, 2,000 pupils in seven governorates became sick after eating school meals. The public was outraged, and there were calls for the cancellation of school meals, suggesting that the money be channelled into exemptions from school fees or the provision of school uniforms. As the crisis developed none of the ministries involved wished to take responsibility. The ministries of health, supply and education all seemed to think one or more of the others were to blame.

School meals were initially provided by international development agencies operating in Egypt. They stopped their work when the 1967 war broke out. When the programme was resumed in 1996, it was under the auspices of the Ministry of Education. Nevertheless, due to the increase in the number of students, it became more difficult for the ministry to check storage conditions and delivery methods, allegedly creating many food poisoning cases.

Like earlier instances, this year's food poisoning episode seems set to blow over with little consequence. Egypt's school biscuit mystery endures.