A 20-year-old employee at a public school in Japan, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, has been arrested and charged with fraudulent obstruction of business on June 13 for mixing human faeces into a side dish of the school lunch.

The mixture of human excrement in the school lunch was discovered on Oct. 8, 2021, when the school principal taste-tested the day’s meal in advance. He reportedly noticed the dish’s peculiar odour and discolouration.

The principal cancelled the lunch and submitted the food to the public health centre for examination.

The test results confirmed that the food contained E. coli bacteria. While the dish was made in a separate central facility, it was reported that no other schools had any trace of E. coli bacteria in their food.

It remains unclear what the woman’s motives were or how she was able to mix the faeces into the food.

When the incident circulated online, many were surprised by the intervention of the principal in tasting the school lunch before anyone else.

While it is not practised in all schools, it is apparently customary for principals to eat lunch about 30 minutes before the whole school.

The practice is meant to check whether the quality and flavour of the food are acceptable to be served as an act of formality.