Multiple students at a Massachusetts middle school became ill after eating what school officials described as "undercooked chicken nuggets" that were provided as part of their lunch over the past two weeks.
The administration at Nissitissit Middle School in Pepperell said they became aware that about 15 students received undercooked chicken nuggets with their lunch on Thursday, Oct. 27, North Middlesex Regional School District Superintendent Brad Morgan said in a statement.
He said the school's staff immediately alerted Fresh Picks Café, the cafeteria vendor, and a new lunch was prepared for the affected students. Some of those students, however, later reported to the school nurse's office with stomach illness.
A week later, on Thursday, Nov. 3, school officials said two more students reported that they were provided with undercooked chicken nuggets and fell ill.
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Morgan said the district has contracted with Fresh Picks Café since 2020, and the company has had no prior food safety issues during its contract. He said school district administrators were scheduled to meet with administrators from the company Friday to address the issue and make sure it doesn't happen again.
Chris Faro, vice president of Fresh Picks Café, said in a statement that members of their senior management visited the school Friday and upon further investigation were able to determine that there was an error on Nov. 3 that might have caused some portions of undercooked chicken to be served to students at the middle school.
"During the incident the error was identified within minutes, at which time the food service staff took meals back from the students and replaced them with different menu offerings," he said.
Faro's statement made no mention of the earlier Oct. 27 incident referenced by the superintendent.
The company said the building supervisor overseeing the program during the Nov. 3 incident is a new employee with Fresh Picks Café with over 20 years of experience in food service in Massachusetts schools. That employee has been removed from a supervisory position and the company said it is currently working with them to "re-evaluate and re-train them as appropriate."
"The entire Fresh Picks Café team offers our apologies to the North Middlesex Regional School District community for this inconvenience," Faro said. "We understand that an incident of this nature undermines confidence in a program that up until this point has been very successful and well received by the community. We will work diligently to overcome this issue and restore students’ trust in the food service program."
