OAKDALE, Pa. — The West Allegheny School District confirmed Monday that students at three elementary schools were served contaminated rice.
Officials said rice weevils, which are tiny, beetle-like insects found in older boxes of rice, were discovered in bags of rice that were cooked and served to students at Donaldson, McKee and Wilson elementary schools Monday.
Around 130 students were served the rice, school officials said.
The bags of rice were delivered to the district in sealed bags. It’s believed that the rice was already contaminated before being given to the schools.
The Allegheny County Health Department said the bugs are immediately killed during cooking and are not harmful when consumed.
More than 1,000 notices were sent to parents Monday.
Officials looked over the Donaldson Elementary School cafeteria Monday evening, where the meals for all the elementary schools are prepared.
A pest control specialist, who completed an inspection of each elementary school Tuesday morning, said 80 bags holding 2 pounds of rice each were thrown out and that the insects were not found in any remaining product.
The district said it believes this instance was an isolated incident, but they want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Both the Allegheny County Health Department and the state’s Department of Agriculture are investigating the incident.