75 Cambodians fall ill after eating contaminated snacks

   PHNOM PENH, May 26  -- Seventy-five Cambodians, mostly children, suffered food poisoning after they ate bread filled with egg, meat and other ingredients in eastern Kratie province, a health official said Saturday.
   The incident took place in Trapaing Traing village in Chitborey district on Friday after they ate free snacks distributed during an event promoting cassava products.    
   "A few hours after they ate those loaves of bread, they had the same symptoms: stomachache, vomit and fatigue, and for children, they had also had diarrhea," Chheang Sovutha, director of Kratie Provincial Health Department, told Xinhua, adding that the victims included 53 children.
   He said their condition was "not serious" and most of them had recovered and left the provincial hospital and district health center for home after receiving medical treatment.   
   According to Sovutha, loaves of suspected contaminated bread had been sent to a laboratory in Phnom Penh for test. 
   Checks on food are rare in Cambodia, where safety regulations are lax.
   Earlier this month, 13 people died and nearly 300 others got sick after drinking methanol-laced rice wine and polluted canal water in Sre Non and Aloch villages in Chitborey district of Kratie province.