Milk cartons filled with hand sanitizer were given to children at a preschool and kindergarten center in New Jersey on Wednesday.
Officials announced in a tweet that an investigation into a “possible contamination of milk” at the Early Childhood Development Center in Camden showed that milk cartons were filled with the sanitizer used to clean the machines that fill the cartons and were shipped out before anyone noticed.
At about 9 a.m. Wednesday, staff at the school called 911 after 25 children drank the milk from cartons that reportedly had an antiseptic odor, according to WPVI Philadelphia.
Eleven students were taken to Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes hospital for examination and discharged shortly thereafter. Twenty-one additional students were taken to Cooper Medical Center, where they were also discharged a couple hours later, according to WPVI.
“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. “This investigation is ongoing, and our department will get to the bottom of this situation.
The Camden City School District said that the sanitizer is not toxic, and the students were sent to the hospital for precautionary purposes. Emergency teams were also dispatched to the school, officials said.
“We pulled all milk today and NO milk will be served until the investigation is completed.”