Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) operations manager Vinod Singh says the youngsters, aged between five and 13, displayed symptoms of food poisoning, including vomiting and difficulty breathing, on Friday morning.

According to the caller, several pupils approached educators and complained of severe abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, and nausea after consuming lollipops that were purchased from other learners during their market day event.

Rusa members were immediately dispatched to the school, and on arrival, they located most of the ailing children in the parking lot. Paramedics from several ambulance services arrived shortly thereafter to assess the minors.

In February 2022, sweets company Richester Foods released a statement distancing itself from speculations that a batch of their products had made children sick.  

This followed after pupils from the uMzovane Primary School in KwaMaphumulo, KZN, fell sick after allegedly consuming XPOP Energy Red Dragon lollipops they bought from a vendor.

At the time, Richester Foods' managing director, Dr. Hussein Cassim, said the company had launched a full internal investigation into the matter.

Cassim said the batch had gone for testing.

"As a sweets seller, children are at the very heart of our business. The health and safety of our customers is our highest priority, and we are unequivocally committed to absolute and complete food safety," he said.

"This is one of our most popular products, and it has been in circulation since 2017, and we are therefore taking urgent action to get to the bottom of the matter, and to allay all concerns," Cassim said at the time.

Algoa FM