Twenty-one young students in a private school in western China fell ill and were hospitalized after eating in the school's cafeteria, Xinhua news agency reported Friday.

The students at the private school in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region complained of headaches, abdominal pain and vomiting after lunch on Wednesday, a local health official was quoted as saying.

Nineteen of the students, ages 6 to 14, were discharged from hospital the same day after treatment, while the others were still hospitalized but not in critical condition, according to the official.

There has been an outbreak of mass food poisonings in China since August, most of which happened in schools.

At least 16 children, mostly between 2 and 5 years old, were hospitalized last week after eating at a kindergarten in Xinjiang, and earlier in October, 56 children between 3 and 6 years old fell ill after eating at a nursery school in southern China's Jiangxi province.

(Shanghai Daily November 3, 2006)