BALANGA CITY – A total of 58 villagers, 50 of them children, were downed before noon Wednesday by food poisoning after eating ice cream peddled on board a tricycle in Barangay Cabog-Cabog in Balanga City .
Among the 50 children was an eight-month-old baby. “Pinatikim lang ng kapatid ng sorbetes,” the mother said.
Dr. Noel Lacsamana, attending physician at the Bataan General Hospital, said the victims complained of vomiting, stomach ache and frequent loose bowel movement.
“Because they came from the same barangay and have the same history of taking in ice cream, we consider this as food-borne infection that might have been caused by the milk content of the product,” the doctor said.
Lacsama said they have confined all the victims and administered hydration by using suwero. “We have reported the matter to the City Health Office so it can do the necessary investigation on what really caused the infection,” he said.
An employee from the Provincial Health Office said they have coordinated with the Department of Health in Region 3 that will conduct rectal swab on the patients.
Cabog-Cabog Barangay Captain Efren Zarraga said the vendor parked the tricycle in front of the elementary school and sold ice cream to the children with some of their mothers who were undertaking Brigada Eskwela.
Barangay Kagawad Tony Asilo said the vendor peddles ice cream to different upland villages in the area.
