GUANGZHOU - Thirty-four staff from a food company in South China's Guangdong province were hospitalized on Tuesday over possible food poisoning, local authorities said.

They had symptoms of chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhea after having dinner at the third canteen of the Dongguan Hsu Chi Food Co. Ltd based in Dongguan city on Monday, a staff in red uniform told Xinhua at the Dongcheng District People's Hospital on Tuesday evening.

Most of them went back to the factory on Tuesday after treatment and the remaining 14 are still in hospital, according to the municipal center of disease control and prevention.

Wang Xu, an official with the municipal food and drug administration, attributed the cause of the incident to the bacterial food poisoning triggered by improper storage of food.