Students served kangaroo meat in chili at school without their knowledge

It happened at a junior and senior high school in the Potter-Dix public school district, News Channel Nebraska reported.

Head cafeteria cook Kevin Frei told Potter-Dix Schools Superintendent Mike Williams that he served the Roo meat "because of its nutritional value as a very lean meat," according to the news station.

“If a family wants to eat exotic foods, they can do so on their own time – not at school,” Williams said in a statement.

“If we were to have food or ingredients that are out of the ordinary, they should be listed on the menu so that students and families are aware of what they would be being served,” he said. “We will no way be serving food of this nature again. Period.”

Williams apologized in the statement and said that school officials don’t believe kangaroo meat is “unhealthy or dangerous” -- otherwise the U.S. Department of Agriculture would not approve it for sale -- but he said Roo meat will not be part of the school district’s meal plan.

Kangaroo meat is mostly produced in Australia from wild animals, which are killed as part of a wildlife population management program, according to the Australian government.