Chewing gum downs 100 students in Pangasinan

By Eva Visperas 

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan – More than 100 elementary students of the Guelew Integrated School here were hospitalized after eating chewing gum Thursday morning.

Policarpio Manuel, director of the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital where the students were taken for treatment, said he could not yet confirm the cause of the poisoning.

Manuel said, 58, of the victims were given intravenous fluid after suffering stomach pains, dizziness and nausea, while the others remain under observation.

Three other students were rushed to the Virgen Milagrosa Hospital, also in this city.

The patients were brought to the hospitals at about 10 a.m. by their teachers and parents.

Three high school students were also hospitalized for eating the gum.

Manuel said it was the first time the hospital admitted such a large number of patients due to food poisoning.

The incident prompted hospital administrators to declare a “code blue” alert, requiring some of their staff who are not on duty to be at the hospital to help treat the patients.

Some 30 nurses and 10 doctors responded to the call.

City health officer Edwin Guinto said the victims chewed Mentos Fruity Fresh 3D gum, which they bought for P2 per box at a store near the school in Barangay Guelew.

An ABS-CBN report said the gums where made in China and had expired.

Each box, which contains seven pieces of strawberry and grape-flavored gum, reportedly cost P30 in grocery stores.

Teacher Christopher Macasias said he saw the students holding boxes of the gum before the class started.

Samples of the chewing gum will be submitted by the PPH to the provincial health office for a laboratory test.