The Buzz | Lunches dumped to avoid food-poisoning scare

Asian Games organizers discarded 76 packaged lunches prepared for athletes after inspectors found salmonella in meat samples on the weekend. Bruce Lee from the games’ organizing committee in Incheon said the potentially-contaminated meals had been prepared for athletes in shooting, fencing, weightlifting and sepak takraw on Sunday. After throwing away the meals, organizers provided bread and milk instead, but some athletes chose to eat at restaurants or skip their meals, Lee said. The organizing committee did not replace the catering company that produced the meals, citing contractual conditions. Kang Kwon-soo, one of about 200 food inspectors at the games, said that the food used in athletes’ meals is inspected before packaging in the mornings. “Our policy is to dump an entire stock of meals if a contaminated sample is found,” Kang said. The Asian Games, which attracts more than 10,000 athletes from 45 member federations, started last Friday.