New Zealand Food Safety has found no ongoing food safety risk with the government’s school lunch provider after an investigation into mouldy meals at Haeata Community Campus, concluding it was most likely that leftover lunches from the previous week were inadvertently served due to untracked Cambro containers kept onsite.
Cambro containers are commercial-grade food storage and transport containers commonly used in catering, hospitality, and institutional meal services.
While the school disputes keeping such containers, investigators ruled out delivery errors by the School Lunch Collective and noted other schools reported no issues with the same meals.
The agency has issued eight recommendations, including improved traceability, clearer responsibilities, and better management of leftovers, to prevent a repeat of the incident.
