New Zealand Food Safety Authority nails restaurant -- no one wins when people barf
A New Zealand restaurateur whose poor food safety practices caused more than 50 Christmas Day diners to fall ill has had his appeal thrown out.
Robin Pierson, the owner-operator of Bushmere Arms, was ordered to pay $400 in fines, along with $850 in reparation to victims and $10,414 in costs to the Crown in a case brought by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA).
The court heard that on 25 December 2006, Pierson’s restaurant provided a Christmas Day buffet luncheon for about 110 diners, with a selection of ham, beef and turkey. The next day some of the diners called him complaining of illness after the luncheon. Fifty-seven reported varying degrees of stomach pain, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.
A Health Protection Officer found the symptoms of illness described by the complainant diners were consistent with food poisoning caused by Clostridium perfringens. C. perfringens was also found in samples of the leftover turkey, and the enterotoxin form of the bacteria in faecal samples from two of the ill diners.
While C. perfringens can be found in the stools of normal people, the enterotoxin is only found in people with C. perfringens food poisoning.
NZFSA’s Assistant Director of Compliance and Investigation Justin Rowlands, said the luncheon had all the hallmarks of an outbreak in waiting.
“The turkey was inadequately thawed, cooked, and reheated. The person serving meats at the buffet also used the same knife to carve the turkey, meat and ham, raising the chance of cross contamination. Also, the restaurant did not have formal steps in place for operating safely during stressful periods.”
UK warning: When doing heroin, beware the Clostridium
In 2001, there were a total of 108 cases - 60 in Scotland, including 50 in Glasgow, 26 in England and 22 in Dublin, including 43 deaths.Extensive microbiological investigations led to the identification of Clostridium novyi Type A from 13 cases in Scotland, two in Dublin and two in England.
C novyi is most commonly associated with infection in farm animals and human battlefield victims.
Fancy restaurant didn't know how to cool food; three sickened
In one of the lamest food safety excuses ever tabled, defence lawyer Adrian Gundelach told the Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday -- with a straight face -- that Harem Restaurant, routinely left dishes out to cool at room temperature for eight hours, stating,"It was something that my clients couldn't have foreseen. They'd been following a practice that they've been following since the day the restaurant opened."
That practice led to three people barfing up Clostridium perfringens after dining at the upscale Brisbane eatery in July. An additional 16 people at the function also reported symptoms, but were not confirmed after failing to return health sample kits to Queensland Health.
The Harem restaurant in Brisbane, Australia, is listed in the Best Restaurants Guide of Australia as follows:
"Be an Ottoman prince for the evening: sit on sumptuous cushions shrouded by curtains, feast on finger food and enjoy a night of belly-shaking. There’s no confusion as to what type of restaurant Harem is; the dining room is a riot of handmade rugs, multi-coloured tablecloths, brass lamps and cushions, all imported from Turkey, and the carpeted floorspace is patrolled by fez-hatted wait staff."
The judge wasn't amused and fined the restaurant $20,000.
The restaurant has since changed its cooling techniques.
Pay more attention to food safety basics and less food pornography.
