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Group food poisoning occurred in a kindergarten in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do two months ago. Health officials say their investigations suggest food ingredients are contaminated because the refrigerator is not functioning properly. However, no E. coli itself, which caused the infection, was found due to interference with the kindergarten's investigation.

This is reporter Ahn Sang-woo.

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time of group infection that health authorities estimate is June 11 and 12.

The temperature in the drawer compartment of the refrigerator where the ingredients are stored exceeded 10 degrees Celsius. At this time, it is believed that the natives were infected after serving meals made with contaminated ingredients.

[Yoo Eun-hye/Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education: It is very likely that (contaminated food materials) were consumed directly, or cross-contamination occurred through cooking utensils or sinks during cooking and storage.]

However, intestinal hemorrhagic Escherichia coli, the causative agent of this group food poisoning Was never found during epidemiological investigations.

The kindergarten in question did not comply with the regulations requiring that food provided as meals be stored for 144 hours, and the situation was revealed that some preserved foods were falsely filled or refrigerators were disinfected immediately before the authorities' epidemiological investigation.

[Kindergarten official: (On the day of the epidemiological investigation, on June 16, the kindergarten side...) I'm sorry. I don't think I can tell you anything from a kindergarten standpoint.] For

this reason, there are concerns that it may be difficult to clarify the civil and criminal responsibility for group food poisoning on the kindergarten side.

[Ahn Hyun-mi/Parent of victimized child: The person who caused this result is the director, and the person who made this case larger is also the director. If so, such a person should be severely punished.] The

government has decided to amend the law so that if the kindergarten director is accused of interfering with the epidemiological investigation and intentionally interferes with the investigation of the cause of food poisoning, the law will be punished for up to three years in prison.

(Video coverage: Choi Ho-jun and Jung Seong-hwa, video editing: Park Jin-hoon)