Glacier Valley Elementary School, Alaska, accidentally served a dozen children and two adults floor sealant instead of milk when it was mistakenly loaded into the milk dispenser, the Juneau Empire reported on 14 June 2022.

One child sought medical treatment at a local hospital after students complained of “the milk tasting bad and burning their mouth/throat,” according to an email sent by the Juneau School District and shared with the publication.

The district’s superintendent Bridget Weiss believes the mix-up may have occurred as both the cow milk and floor sealant pouches contained a similar milky-white liquid and were both being stored in the same area, as reported by the Associated Press.

“We don’t know how that happened, but they were all put on the same pallet […] that pallet was delivered, and the assumption was that it was milk because that’s what we thought was being delivered.” said Weiss.

The company responsible for the school’s catering is NANA Management Services (NMS), a food handling service for both public and private sectors. NMS staff served the food on trays which the children then took to the cafeteria to consume.

Thankfully, Weiss said that the school district requires that all chemicals used should be low-ingestion risk, meaning that even after consumption “our students are doing fine.” The incident is currently being investigated by the Juneau Police Department.