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| Kids in school cafeteria illustration |
At least twenty-two children were sickened after they drank hot sauce mixed with milk in a game of dare in school, according to hospital officials in California.
School officials said that the twenty-two children, who became ill Thursday after eating lunch in a San Diego school cafeteria, became sick on purpose, as part of a game.
According to the San Diego Unified School District spokesperson Jack Brandais, a group of students from Audubon Elementary School in Lomita, were playing a game of "dare" in the cafeteria, urging others to put different ingredients into milk to see who could keep the milk down without vomiting.
Brandais said that the ingredients included hot sauce, salt, pepper, carrots and other vegetables served at lunch.
The results were not pretty, and the game, led by a group of fourth graders, ended quickly.
Twenty-two children became ill after consuming the drink, most of them with nausea, vomiting and abdominal pains.
After a number of students complained to the school’s nurse of stomach problems, paramedics were called to the school, and officials said nearly two dozen sick children were taken to a local hospital.
The San Diego Unified School District confirmed that twenty-two children were of kindergarten through the seventh grade classes. The district said the students were assessed in the hospital and then released to their parents or guardians.
After the incident, San Diego Fire Battalion Chief Robert Garcia said the children possibly drank a drink that had gone wrong, perhaps juice or milk, and may have suffered food poisoning.
The San Diego County health officials began investigating, and said they would work with food services department of the school district to determine the cause of the incident.
After learning that the disease of the children in the cafeteria was self-imposed, Brandais said that director Jean Freeman of the Audubon Elementary School will decide how to proceed, and whether disciplinary action will be taken against the students involved in the incident.