Roughly a week after nearly 600 Al-Azhar University students were poisoned by spoiled food served in the student cafeteria, 152 kg of rotten meat were discovered in Cairo University’s food stores.
Cairo University students learned about the problem when a student fainted from smoke inhalation as the kitchen staff burned the meat behind the student cafeteria. She was transferred to a nearby hospital. Students then protested in anger against their neglected facilities, and demanded the dismissal of the head of the dormitories.
Supply Minister Bassem Ouda visited the Cairo University dorms on Thursday and inspected its kitchens and refrigerators. Ouda filed a report on the rotten meat, and said the prosecution would conduct investigations into the incident.
Ezz Eddin Abu Stait, the deputy head of student affairs at the university, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the blame lies with the importer of the meat, not with the university’s administration. Staff realized the meat was spoiled before it was ingested by any students, and replaced the meat with chicken for that day’s meals, Abu Stait added.
The university’s administration was interrogating those workers who decided to burn the rotten meat in violation of the proper procedure, which would have been to transport the food to the Veterinary Medicine Faculty, which is equipped with an incinerator.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
