‘Not Satisfactory’: Food Safety ramps up school lunch oversight after spike in complaints

Meals were delivered burnt at one school last term. (Image: NZME)

Thu, 08 May 2025

Children’s safety is non-negotiable for Vincent Arbuckle, deputy director general of New Zealand Food Safety – and he’s taken action to prove it. When a student suffered second-degree burns after a meal overheated and exploded on his legs, NZ Food Safety (NZFS) launched an immediate investigation. Within a day, the supplier was ordered to pull the microwavable meal, which was never intended to be heated in a commercial oven. That was just one of 17 food safety investigations NZFS has opened since the School Lunc...

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