A salmonella outbreak initially reported in North Chungcheong Province has spread to Sejong and Buan, North Jeolla Province, according to health authorities on Friday.
The total number of group infection cases caused by the consumption of bakery products served in school meals has risen to four, with 208 individuals exhibiting symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
The outbreak was first detected after students at two group meal facilities in Cheongju and Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, reported symptoms of food poisoning following the consumption of bread products on May 15.
Subsequent investigations by the KDCA revealed the presence of a genetically identical strain of salmonella in both the patients and the food samples.
In response, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on June 5 issued a recall and sales suspension for two specific products: high-calcium strawberry cream roll cake and high-calcium Korean wheat choco banana bread.
These items were produced by Mother Goose, a food manufacturer, and distributed by Pulmuone's subsidiary Foodmerce. The recalled products had expiration dates of Oct. 12 and Sept. 21, respectively.
Since then, two additional clusters linked to the same products have been reported — one in Sejong (served on May 16) and another in Buan (served on May 15), both involving the strawberry cream roll cake.
As of Friday, reported symptomatic cases include 120 from Cheongju, 35 from Jincheon, 18 from Sejong and 35 from Buan.
The KDCA is currently monitoring other facilities that received the suspect products to assess any additional cases.
yeeun@heraldcorp.com
