More than 2,000 fall ill in the Philippines after consuming confectionary goods

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Close to 2,000 people, primarily children, have fallen ill in the Philippines after consuming a batch of contaminated confectionary goods.

Health authorities are currently investigating the incident to determine if the poisoning was accidental or intentional. They are investigating the confectionary for foodborne bacteria, including E-coli and Salmonella.

The goods are believed to have been manufactured by Wendy’s Delicious Durian Candy. According to the Food Safety News, the owner of the company has been arrested, along with nine vendors who sold the poisoned sweets.

The incident occurred in Mindanao, the country’s southern-most large island. After consuming the sweets, the victims had complained of stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting, and headaches.

The packaging of the contaminated fruit-flavoured sweets, that come in durian, mango, and mangosteen varieties did not carry any expiry dates or nutritional facts.

Senior superintendent Narciso Verdadero was quoted by the Telegraph as saying that the vendors will likely be charged for violating consumer safety laws.

"The owner is not yet off the hook because many violations have been spotted, like the lack of expiration dates on the products and inproper labeling," said Verdadero.

Health officials are also checking for intentional poisoning, as some of the goods seemed to have been repackaged after being produced by the company.

Test results are expected to be released by 15 July 2015.

Meanwhile, the country’s health department has urged the public to be on the lookout for spoiled or unsafe food that seems to have been repackaged, or is being sold without proper labels.

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Image: More than 2,000 fall ill in the Philippines after consuming confectionary goods. Photo courtsey of phasinphoto via freedigitalphotos.net.