Over 60 Students Fall Sick at Gujarat School Amid Shocking Kitchen Hygiene Lapse

Ahmedabad, Sep 5 – More than 60 students at Gyanshakti Residential School in Kheda district, Gujarat, fell ill on Thursday night, complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea, fainting, and panic attacks — causing chaos and panic among parents and school staff.

The children were rushed to Kheda Civil Hospital in emergency ambulances, where doctors worked urgently to treat the large number of cases.

Early investigations by district officials point to poor hygiene in the school’s kitchen. Food was reportedly being prepared in unsanitary conditions, with dirty utensils left near food items and unclean machines used for making flour and rotis. Officials took photos of the kitchen before and after staff tried to quickly clean it ahead of the inspection.

Senior authorities, including the District Health Officer and education officials, visited both the school and hospital. Food samples were collected and sent for lab testing. If the tests confirm negligence, action will be taken against the school administration.

While parents and locals accused the school of hiding the seriousness of the incident, health officials said that so far, there’s no clear sign of major food poisoning. “Only one child had normal vomiting, and others showed mild seasonal symptoms,” said Health Officer V.S. Dhruv. He added that if the food was badly contaminated, more severe reactions would have been expected.

This is not an isolated case. Gujarat has seen several food-related health scares in recent months:

• In Dahod, over 60 girls at a residential school fell ill after dinner.

• At MS University in Vadodara, 100 female hostel students were hospitalised after eating dinner.

• In Mehsana, 33 people were sickened by sweets at a school event.

• In Gir Somnath and Sayla, contaminated buttermilk at events affected hundreds.

In response, Gujarat’s food safety department has stepped up enforcement. Over 190 raids were carried out this year, seizing over ₹10.5 crore worth of low-quality or unsafe food. Testing facilities have also been upgraded with new labs and mobile vans.