Haeata Community Campus mouldy lunches

The story so far

On 1 December, Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch recalled school lunches after finding them rancid and covered in mould, and some students had already eaten the food. The school warned parents to watch for food poisoning symptoms, and one student's mother reported her daughter was unwell.^{1, 2 Dec 2025} New Zealand Food Safety said the meals were likely delivered on Thursday and left unrefrigerated until they were re-served on Monday. Its investigators believed the problem was likely human error, while the principal disputed this and pointed to a systems failure in the contract.^{2, 3 Dec 2025} The principal denied any political motive for speaking out and said CCTV footage showed the school was not responsible. The school also launched an internal inquiry into the delivery and handling of the lunches.^{3, 4, 5 Dec 2025} On 9 December, the Food Safety investigation found the school had likely mixed up lunches from the previous week, and it cleared the School Lunch Collective of wider food safety risks. Associate Education Minister David Seymour blamed the school for causing unnecessary drama by speaking to the media before the investigation was complete, but the school said it never received the Food Safety report.^{10, 11 Dec 2025} About 20 mince and potato meals were served to students, and a report blamed the school, but the school has not accepted responsibility or released its internal findings.^{15 Dec 2025}

What's next

The principal said on 4 December that the internal investigation findings would be released the following week.^{5 Dec 2025}

Key moments

1. 1 Dec 2025School recalls rancid, mouldy lunches after some students had already eaten them.
2. 2 Dec 2025Food Safety says meals likely left unrefrigerated from Thursday until Monday.
3. 3 Dec 2025Investigators point to human error; school cites contract systems failure.
4. 4 Dec 2025Principal says CCTV footage proves the school was not responsible.
5. 5 Dec 2025Haeata launches internal investigation into delivery and handling of lunches.
6. 10 Dec 2025Food Safety finds school likely mixed up lunches; incident described as isolated.
7. 11 Dec 2025Seymour blames school for drama; school says it never got the report.
8. 15 Dec 2025Report blames school; school still has not released its internal findings.

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.