A total of 84 children from a kindergarten in Central China's Henan Province were under hospital treatment and observation on Monday morning, after they had been struck down after having eaten noodle, porridge and yogurt on Friday, said local health authority.

All the children were in stable condition, and the lab result for the food, which had been initially identified as bacterial food poisoning, will come out in four days, said Zhou Yong, a spokesman with the provincial public health bureau.

The incident took place in the Zhoukou Experimental Kindergarten, the largest kindergarten in Zhoukou city, when 768 children had lunch on Friday.

A total of 214 children and three teachers showed symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, and breaking out into a cold sweat.

They were immediately sent to a nearby hospital, and most of them were recovered and discharged from the hospital. An investigation is under way, said Zhou.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2009)