Restaurant owners 'very sorry' for outbreak

THE manager of a Chinese restaurant in Driffield was ordered to pay almost £30,000 after an outbreak of salmonella.

A total of 16 people who either ate or worked at the Water Margin Chinese restaurant in Market Place were infected by the food poisoning bug.

Investigators found samples taken at the restaurant were contaminated by salmonella, including cucumber and spring onion, beef, chicken and king prawns.

As a result of their findings, the restaurant was voluntarily closed for five days in order to clean and disinfect it.

Jun Yin Li, who was running the restaurant, pleaded guilty to six food safety offences at Beverley Magistrates' Court. He was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay court costs of £14,000.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council's food services team and the Health Protection Agency carried out the investigation into the outbreak, which happened last August.

Andrew Buxton, acting senior environmental health officer for the council, said: “This was a difficult case for us to pursue as our initial focus had to be on investigating the outbreak of salmonella food poisoning and bringing it under control. I must commend the proprietors for their active co-operation in securing that objective.

“There were language barriers to overcome and proprietorship issues to unravel, but nevertheless, the food hygiene and safety offences related to the outbreak could not be discounted, particularly given the injury, distress and disruption caused by the outbreak.”

Although the named restaurant owner was Mr Li's wife, he was running the restaurant and was therefore prosecuted.

Mr Buxton said: “I think the penalties imposed by the court reflect the seriousness of the case, but are probably secondary to the impact on the restaurant's reputation and business costs associated with the outbreak.

“Following extensive works after the outbreak, the restaurant has put in place requisite procedures and the food services team now has a higher level of confidence in the management of the business.

“Officers will continue to revisit the premises over the coming weeks to ensure high standards are maintained.”

Bill Waddington, solicitor representing Mr Li, said: “The restaurant was closed voluntarily for five days while everything in the kitchen was replaced and renewed where necessary.

“It was allowed to re-open once officers were satisfied it was up to the relevant standards. There have been no problems since and they are very sorry about what happened.”