Investigations Ongoing After Kids and Teachers Drank Floor Sealant Mistaken for Milk

An investigation was launched at a daycare center in Juneau, Alaska, after 12 kids and two teachers drank floor sealant mistaken for milk during breakfast Tuesday, June 14.

The Juneau School District said in a statement to CNN that the ongoing probe is in conjunction with the Juneau Police Department and the NANA Management Services (NMS), the contractor tasked to serve the food at the cafeteria of the Sitʼ Eeti Shaanáx̱-Glacier Valley Elementary School. The facility remains open for its summer daycare program, RALLY.

The children between the ages of 5 to 12 complained about the taste of the "milk" and then told their teachers that they felt a burning sensation in the mouth and throat. Upon closer look at the label, the teachers saw that the milk was a Hillyard Seal 341 floor sealant.

The children were immediately told to stop drinking, and the sealants were removed. A RALLY site manager called the poison control department and NMS before alerting the parents of the incident. NMS immediately dispatched its safety team to the school.

Parents Pull Out Their Kids from the Program

However, Daily Beast reported that the children's parents did not know about the incident three hours later. Some parents were also informed that the kids drank paint thinner.

Dad Barry Nydam said he would stop sending his 7-year-old daughter to the summer program. His wife, Rhyan Nydam, received the call from the RALLY staff and questioned the delay in notifying the parents so they could bring their children to the hospital. Fortunately, their daughter didn't need any treatment, but she did have an upset stomach.

Reports cited that one child received medical treatment after drinking the sealant. The Juneau Police Department believes that two other kids were picked up by the parents as well to get checked at the hospital. However, the authorities said there were no indicators of criminal mal-intent, but they will still conduct a thorough investigation to determine how the milk ended up in the children's breakfast tray.

Superintendent Bridget Weiss thinks the floor sealant was mistaken for milk because it has a similar appearance. It did not have any chemical smell or odor. Both milk and sealant were stored in pouches inside cardboard boxes. An NMS staff usually loads the milk pouches into the dispenser.

"We don't know how that happened, but they were all put on the same pallet," Weiss said, via Anchorage Daily, adding that it was easy to assume that the pallet contained milk because that was their system.

Low Ingestion Hazard

Hillyard Seal 341 is considered a low ingestion hazard, but parents like Barry and Rhyan still seek more information from the school staff. The parents were told that the matter was still under investigation.

Weiss also confirmed that the police and the school district would meet in the coming weeks to discuss the incident. The superintendent said they have to ensure this mistake will not happen again.