Nineteen middle-school students were taken to hospital with suspected food poisoning in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, on Monday.

The students, all from the middle school affiliated to Jilin University, developed vomiting and diarrhoea at about 4:00 PM after having lunch at the school restaurant, a school official said.

They were sent to university hospitals immediately. By 10:00 PM, seven students had been discharged and 12 were still receiving treatment.

The hospitalized students were in stable condition and the hospitals were yet to confirm if they have food poisoning, said the official who declined to be named.

An investigation into the incident is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2007)