Sixty pupils from River Valley Primary School reported symptoms of gastroenteritis after consuming lunch provided by the school's central kitchen meal operator, prompting investigations by the authorities.
The pupils began feeling unwell after the lunch break on January 14 and reported symptoms such as diarrhoea the following day.
The Ministry of Education (MOE), the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said in a joint statement that most of the affected pupils had returned to school by Friday, January 16.
Four pupils were still recovering at home, and none of the children required hospitalisation.
The school is monitoring the affected pupils and is working closely with SFA and CDA to determine the cause of the incident. As a precaution, River Valley Primary has stepped up cleaning and sanitisation efforts across the canteen and other school premises.
MOE said it has reminded canteen operator Gourmetz of the importance of maintaining food safety standards and complying with SFA's food handling requirements. The operator will continue providing meals to students, and there will be no disruption to food services at the school.
In response to media queries, a spokesman for Gourmetz said the company was alerted on Thursday, January 15, to reports of stomach discomfort and suspected food poisoning, including feedback linked to pizza served a day earlier.
The operator said it is working with the school and SFA to establish the facts, including the timeline of events and the specific meals involved.
"As a precaution, we have initiated an internal review to verify the end-to-end process, from food preparation, packing and dispatch to on-site serving," the spokesman said, as quoted by The Straits Times, adding that the company is cooperating fully with the authorities.
Gourmetz also apologised to parents for the distress and inconvenience caused and said it would provide updates once more information becomes available.
River Valley Primary is among 13 schools that have adopted a central kitchen model, under which food is supplied by a single caterer instead of individual canteen stallholders, amid a shortage of school canteen operators. Gourmetz also provides catering services to other schools, including CHIJ (Kellock), Radin Mas Primary and Blangah Rise Primary.
Some parents told The Straits Times that their children noticed the chicken on the pizza tasted or smelled unusual. A few said their children avoided illness after removing the chicken before eating. One pupil reportedly told his mother that the chicken did not smell good but consumed it anyway, and later experienced diarrhoea.
A parent who declined to be named expressed disappointment with the vendor's response, saying the school staff and parent volunteers had been managing the situation well.
He added that communication so far had come only from the school and called on the operator to take responsibility for medical costs and offer refunds.
