Dozens of Camden students were sent to local hospitals after a “non-toxic consumable sanitizer” was discovered in milk cartons in various schools in the city, officials confirmed to NJ Advance Media on Wednesday afternoon.
At least 64 students were “impacted” by the incident, school officials said. However, the Camden City School District did not immediately clarify if that meant those students had ingested it or were sick.
According to school district spokeswoman Valerie Merritt, over 30 students were sent to two area hospitals following the discovery of the colorless substance Wednesday morning.
Some students were vomiting, she said.
The report of a possible contaminant came into the Camden County Police Department at about 9:09 a.m. on Wednesday, said police spokesman Dan Keashen. It was not immediately known how the substance made its way into the cartons.
At least 25 students ingested the milk “from sealed cartons with an unidentified substance that had an antiseptic-like odor to it,” Camden County officials said in a statement Wednesday evening. So far, at least four schools are known to have been impacted by the contaminated milk, officials said.
“This was a scary situation but thankfully, everyone who was exposed to the milk is in stable condition and either back at school or home,” Camden County Health Officer Paschal Nwako said in a statement. “This investigation is ongoing, and our department will get to the bottom of this situation.”
Nwako said 11 students were sent to Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital “for examination and discharged later in the morning.” Another 21 students were transported by bus with a staff member to Cooper Medical Center and discharged earlier this morning as well, he said.
Students from Early Childhood Development Center were sent to Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and students from Riletta T. Cream Elementary School — just over 2 miles away — were sent to Cooper Hospital after the substance was discovered. County officials did not immediately say which other schools were impacted.
“Others may be going (to the hospital) as additional precaution and as other impacted students are identified,” Merritt said, noting that students first discovered the substance by opening some of the cartons.
The milk cartoons had an “antiseptic smell emanating from them,” Keashen said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, students were to sent to (local hospitals),” he added.
This morning we investigated a possible contamination of milk today at our Early Childhood Development Center. It was determined that the substance found in the cartons is a non-toxic consumable sanitizer that runs through the vendor machines prior to milk.
— Camden Schools (@CamdenSchools) March 30, 2022
School officials said 95 cartons of the Guida’s Dairy milk were pulled and eight were contaminated with the substance, made by Vortexx. Neither the milk nor cleaning substance companies immediately provided comment after the incident.
Parents were informed via “immediate robo calls, website postings and social media messaging and updates,” Merritt said. “We (also) informed our food services team not to serve any liquid dairy products as an abundance of caution until investigations are complete.”
“It was determined that the substance found in the cartons is a non-toxic consumable sanitizer that runs through the vendor machines prior to milk,” the district said in a series of posts on Twitter.
“We pulled all milk today and NO milk will be served until the investigation is completed. Emergency teams were dispatched to the school,” the district said.
Nwako noted in a statement that school officials have been in communication with the milk company “and are also locating and removing all the potentially affected product.”
In addition to school officials and local police and EMT units, the Camden County Health Department, Hazmat team, food company, Aramark, as well as the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and Department of Education responded to the incident, Merritt said.
If you or someone you know may have been exposed or ingested the contaminated milk, officials recommend you call the Camden County Health Department at 856-549-0530.
The incident is still under investigation, authorities said.
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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him @stevenrodasnj.
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