NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Before hundreds of cases of chocolate and strawberry milk left the factory, it was already tainted, state agriculture officials said.

State agriculture officials said the milk was contaminated with a sanitizing agent that had not been rinsed properly from a machine at the New Britain plant where the milk was produced.

Agriculture officials said they believe the problem at Guida Dairy was the result of operator error and that final test confirmations are expected later on Thursday.

"The product may contain some food grade sanitizer," Guida spokesman Hugh O'Hare wrote in a written release. "The company, with the help of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, has determined this to be an isolated incident caused by human error."

Guida's has voluntarily recalled half-pint containers of one-half percent low fat chocolate milk with a sell-by date of April 13, 2007, and product No. 138.

Six second-grade students at Kathleen E. Goodwin Elementary School fell ill after consuming the milk, saying they developed symptoms that included dizziness, nausea, headaches, stomach aches and burning in their throats.

Authorities said a seventh student, from Old Saybrook Middle School, who was said to have suffered similar symptoms turned out not to be related.

"The kids said it tasted funny and the first child was sick less than 20 minutes after consuming the product," said Mary Jane Engle, Old Saybrook's health director.

The students reported the color of the milk was lighter than usual and that they noticed an odor.

"I was worried, based on a lot of the children that had stomach problems and were sent to the clinics," said Rachel Rich, an Old Saybrook parent.

"He said, 'Something's wrong with the milk and the children were getting sick at the Goodwin school,'" said Ronda Skeel, whose son is a Goodwin sixth-grade student.

"The kids said it tasted funny and the first child was sick less than 20 minutes after consuming the product." - Mary Jane Engle Old Saybrook's health director

Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli said about 1,200 cases were in the batch and of those only around 400 had been distributed. He said the half-pint sizes were mostly distributed to schools, cafeterias and other food service facilities that purchase in bulk. The smaller container is usually not carried by convenience stores and supermarkets, he said.

"We're on top of it," Prelli said. "I'm sure every school is going to be checking their chocolate milk (Thursday)."

"We in the health district in the towns of Deep River, Clinton and Old Saybrook have now proceeded to contact all day care all convalescent homes, and now we are starting on convenience stores," Engle said.

"We know that they do distribute to three different states and we're not sure, if this batch of chocolate and strawberry milk, which state they went to, but they're working on that," Old Saybrook police Lt. Michael Spira said.

Prelli said it's possible that not all 1,200 cases were tainted, but the entire batch has been voluntarily recalled by the company because "nobody wants to take the risk."

Besthoff reported Old Saybrook authorities have closed their criminal investigation in this case.

For information about the recalled milk, contact Guida Dairy at 860-224-2404 or 800-832-8929 or visit the company's Web site.

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