The Ministry of Education suspended the purchase of milk for public school breakfasts from its supplier, Nutrilac, a Santo Domingo-based company. The company’s product was tested for bacterias after around 1,000 children were intoxicated in the Cibao Central region. The company opened its doors to technicians from the Ministry of Public Health and Education so these could determine what caused the problem. The industry serves 110,000 rations of milk a day to public schools. The Ministry said stricter quality controls would be established to avoid future intoxications. Minister of Education Amada Melo visited public hospitals in San Francisco de Macoris and La Vega where the children, affected by severe diarrhea, were interned. Most students were sent home in less than eight hours. The Ministry of Education distributes more than a million rations a day to public school children. The program, a major achievement of the Fern?ndez administration, seeks to motivate parents to send their children to school.
