Student finds dead mealworm in school lunch

Orange County Public Schools has pulled all of the rice off the shelves at Killarney Elementary School in Winter Park, and every other school in the district, after a student found a dead mealworm in his school lunch. The child found the beetle larva in his cooked rice Tuesday.

According to the school system, when food service staff checked the source, they found live mealworms in the school's rice bags.  OCPS said the rice had been delivered to the school within 24 hours of the mealworm’s discovery, and the district does not believe the issue arose at the school.

Principal Kelly Steinke immediately notified parents of the situation, sending both an audio message and an email about the mealworms.  According to the note sent to parents, an expert from the Department of Agriculture said eating a cooked mealworm won't lead to any health problems. It’s not clear whether any of the students ingested the larvae.

OCPS wasn't able to tell FOX 35 which food vendor provided the affected rice, or whether that company sells any other food to the district, saying the answers to those questions weren’t immediately available.