Frozen strawberries are “very likely” the cause of food poisoning that sickened more than 11,000 students in almost 500 schools and day care centers, mostly in eastern areas of Germany, during the last week. The Robert Koch Institute, which investigates infectious diseases and outbreaks for the German Health Ministry, reported on a “strong and statistically significant link” between the illnesses and consumption of food products made with a shipment of frozen strawberries. The shipment came from a subcontractor to Sodexo, the private company providing food and beverage services to the schools and day care centers. Sodexo is promising to compensate victims and in the future it would select suppliers “even more rigorously.” For more than 11,000 sickened students, including at least 32 who required hospitalization, contaminated frozen strawberries brought on both diarrhea and vomiting. In addition to the Robert Koch Institute, a government task force has been set up to continue the investigation into what is now Germany’s largest incident of food poisoning.
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