You really can’t make this stuff up. In a headline that's now making national news, about 50 students at Fowler Middle School in Tigard got more than they bargained for during lunch this week — when the “salt” on their pretzels turned out to be granulated oven cleaner.
According to the Tigard-Tualatin School District, 37 pretzels were “mistakenly contaminated” with a cleaner called Alto-Shaam before being served to students on Monday. Some kids reported a burning sensation in their mouth and throat, but thankfully, no hospitalizations were reported.
The district says it was all “human error.” But honestly — I have so many questions.
How do you even mess this up?
Aren’t school pretzels prepackaged? Who’s scooping oven cleaner anywhere near food prep in the first place? How does something like this get past anyone without someone saying, “Hey, that doesn’t look like salt”?
The district’s spokesperson, Alex Pulaski, called it “an unfortunate mistake.”
“We serve thousands of meals every day, and our first priority is always to protect the safety and well-being of our students,” Pulaski said. “In this instance, we erred, and we are working to rebuild trust.”
The school says they immediately contacted the Oregon Poison Center, notified all families whose kids ate the pretzels, and checked for symptoms. They’ve also promised to reimburse families for any medical expenses related to the incident.
Still, it’s hard not to ask — is anyone being held accountable for this? Because feeding dozens of middle schoolers oven cleaner feels like a mistake that should come with more than just a “we’ll look into it.”
When ingested, the chemical can cause burning sensations, vomiting, and severe internal injuries, according to the CDC. Thankfully, everyone seems to be okay this time.
But man… oven cleaner pretzels? How does that even happen?
