Athlete lunches dumped after salmonella scare at Asian Games

A potential mass outbreak of food poisoning at the Asian Games was narrowly avoided after salmonella was detected in lunch boxes prepared for athletes, officials said on Monday. The bacteria was found Sunday in meat included in boxed meals provided by a food caterer. A spokesman for the organising committee said that all 76 lunch boxes prepared by the firm were immediately thrown away.

It is our policy to dump the entire stock, even if one sample is found to have been contaminated. We’ve decided to replace the food catering company with a different one following the unfortunate event.

Asian Games official

Among those who had requested the packed meals were athletes competing in shooting, fencing, weightlifting and sepak takraw. They were forced to wait several hours until a replacement snack of bread and milk was provided, though some chose to skip the meal entirely. Salmonella poisoning can induce severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting, with symptoms that last four to seven days.

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