Photo: Video screenshot released by parents showing live maggots in the meat grinder

After netizens reported that there were numerous live maggots in the meat grinder of the canteen at Yuyao Yaobei Experimental School in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, the local joint investigation team issued a statement on Saturday, announcing the suspension of individuals involved and the removal of responsible personnel from their positions due to campus food safety violations.

The incident was discovered at noon on Friday during a parent accompaniment session in the primary school's canteen. Parents entered the kitchen and found maggots inside a meat grinder, according to The Paper.

At 9:50 pm on Friday, the local joint investigation team probing the incident issued a statement confirming that the parents' report about maggots in the meat grinder was real, based on preliminary findings.

The statement attributed the incident to the failure to clean the meat grinder in a timely and standardized manner as required after its last use.

It said that the school has since conducted thorough disinfection and cleaning of the canteen. Meanwhile, the local authorities have launched a comprehensive investigation in accordance with laws and regulations, pledging severe penalties for campus food safety violations and those responsible.

On Saturday evening, the joint investigation team issued another statement, revealing that the city had promptly formed a cross-departmental task force - involving discipline inspection, education, market regulation, public security, and health departments - to investigate the food hygiene and safety issues at the involved school canteen.

The investigation found that the school failed to properly implement food safety management systems and bore direct responsibility for food hygiene and safety oversight, according to the statement.

The Yuyao Market Supervision Bureau has filed a case against the school and ordered immediate improvements to its food safety supervision mechanisms, the statement said.

The statement also noted that the deputy director overseeing relevant work at the Yuyao Municipal Education Bureau and the director of the market regulation office of the subdistrict where the school is located have been suspended pending investigation.

Relevant authorities have also suspended the school's principal pending investigation, removed the deputy principal in charge from his position, and ordered the school to immediately dismiss the head of the general affairs office responsible for the management of the incident canteen, the statement said.

The city's education bureau has also established an on-campus task force to enhance guidance and inspections, the statement added.

Additionally, parents have reported on the same day that the water dispensed from drinking fountains on every floor of the teaching building appears yellowish and emits an unusual odor, suspected to result from excessive dirt buildup in the filter cartridges, according to Xiaoxiang Morning News. 

Photos of a school meeting shared by parents indicate that the school has proposed corrective measures for the canteen and water dispensers, including regular replacement of filter cartridges, daily sharing of cleaning videos, teacher-student shared meals, and scheduling health checkups, among other actions, the report said.


Global Times