Famous Death Row Last Meals
Riz au Lait: The Frenchman's Ultimate Comfort Food
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| Oyster, passion fruit jelly and lavender at the Fat Duck. Photo: smashz, Flickr |
That's the number of customers who fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea at the Bray, England restaurant, and forced its two-week closure. Now, Britain's Health Protection Agency has published a 47-page report pinning the blame on norovirus caused by oysters contaminated with human sewage, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The closure, at the time, cost the restaurant about $500,000.
When the restaurant reopened in March, the illness outbreak was originally linked to a number of workers with the norovirus -- better known as a stomach bug or gastroenteritis.
However, the new report cites shellfish as a main culprit. Testing showed raw oysters from a supplier in Essex had been contaminated by raw sewage and consequently became infected with the norovirus.
"We are glad that the report has finally been published and draws a conclusion to the closure of the Fat Duck and more importantly that the norovirus has been identified as the cause and not due to any lapse in our strict food preparation processes," a restaurant spokesman told the Daily Telegraph.
The Fat Duck's chef, Heston Blumenthal, is world-renowned for molecular gastronomy with dishes like "nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream."
| Yes -- it's a foodie Mecca. | |
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| No -- that's gross! |
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9-11-2009 @4:50PM Yossarian said... I believe Heston is a very hands on chef with an immense amount of knowledge, professionalism and love of his craft.
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9-13-2009 @2:25PM barbara said... That stuff is so nasty who would eat that yuck
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9-13-2009 @2:44PM Patricia said... The Chef must not have even bothered to taste the oyster dish he was having served, or he would have been the only one who got sick.
Have the customers been tested for Hepatitis? That is also something that can be contracted more commonly from bad oysters.
In the U.S. THAT restaurant would be shut down for what happened anyway. That's what we pay our Health Dept. for, to keep us safe. 529 victims is ABSOLUTELY REDICULOUS!!!
CRIEKY!!!
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9-13-2009 @2:56PM Lily said... That's a ridiculous statement. Even if the Chef had did his own taste test of the meal that day, he would not have had immediate symptoms. Therefore, he would not have been the only one to get sick. Nor would it be enough time to realize what the effect would be in time to stop the production of that meal. The restaurant being shut down was proper protocol and guess what, they found out the cause but it took a long time. So to blame this on the chef is absurd. The blame lies with the supplier.
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9-14-2009 @5:11PM konky said... As a certified executive chef, one must place into charts documenting the flow of food from farm to plate. No chef would have been able to determine whether this product was infected. We place our trust in our suppliers.
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9-13-2009 @3:06PM cardiak said... Agree with one poster. They need to also consider any of the Hepatitis infectious diseases as a potential culprit as well if human sewage was part of the problem. For god's sakes. How awful. How gross. So much for Michelin starred venues of brazenly snooty and clueless quality control oversite. Yuk!
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9-13-2009 @4:15PM David Layne said... I prefer REAL FOOD to "molecular gastronomy".I really don't want my steak turned into foam,and the idea of bacon and egg ice cream is just ridiculous.I sincerely hope this fad passes...I believe it is already losing ground,thank God.
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9-13-2009 @4:19PM CookieCutter said... As a chef you can not determine if your product is infected in this way...but you have to know your supplier. If you trust them and know their sources chances are good they won't steer you wrong. I would not be afraid to eat at this place since this kind of incident can happen anywhere....even in your home kitchen. There is always risks when consuming shellfish especially raw ones. Hope the victims get better soon...lawsuits are pending I'm sure.
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9-13-2009 @4:31PM Paula said... I got food poisoning from a restaurant a few years back from fish that was improperly cooked. It isn't a pleasant experience. When the restaurant was notified of my illness, the manager kindly offered me a free meal to make up for it. Sorry, but I can't print what I told the manager. Anyway, the restaurant is now out of business.
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9-13-2009 @4:55PM Gobo said... Food being improperly cooked is a very different matter than customers eating raw oysters that arrived from the supplier infected with fecal matter. There's no way for a cook to test for that, and since it's not cooked, it's not a matter of bad preparation. The blame lies entirely with their supplier.
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9-13-2009 @5:26PM JCK said... The restaurants in California are rated A,B or C and those letters are posted on the outside for patrons to see. This signifies the cleanliness level of the restaurants. Everything is inspected monthly. This should be done
natiionally! How great it would be if there was a way to inspect food before serving! JCK
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9-13-2009 @5:12PM Cynthia J. said... I live in Oysterville, Washington on Willapa Bay, the 2nd largest producer of oysters in the U.S. And, the oysters are fabulous. The problem with tainted oysters is how filthy the water is in some beds and too many dirty people handling them prior to serving. Bottom line, too many people on too little land--we're swimming in human and animal shit. Disgusting.
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9-13-2009 @5:28PM IntlTrvler said... I wouldn't eat raw oysters period. Or any raw seafood or meat. You're asking for trouble with all the contaminents that are lurking about. I don't think people really enjoy eating these things. In most cases they just swallow them anyway. It's just a status thing like caviar. It's disgusting too.
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9-13-2009 @5:39PM Fishnlwayr said... Years ago, I was the purchasing director for a MAJOR hotel that, at that time, catered to big shots and a lot of international people. (You had to speak multiple languages to work there) I was coming into the building down a hallway between two kitches. One was the banquet kitchen and the other was the big-shot a la carte kitchen. Coming towards me was a huge rat with a short ear of corn in his mouth. He saw me... I saw him... I hestitated..he gave me one of those looks of "don't mess with my ear of corn".... I let him pass and he, with an air of privilege, walked to the door and took a right towards the "river bank" where he, probably, lived and dined on purloined food from that kitchen.
BTW, anyone who ever worked in a restaurant/kitchen has tons of horror stories.
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9-13-2009 @5:40PM onestopgen said... I got sick once from contaminated food. I went through two blood tests and didn't fully recover until two weeks later. It's not pleasant. The restaurant should pay for their guests' medical bills.
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9-13-2009 @5:45PM Rodney M. Hayes said... Here along the Gulf Coast, we have a rule of thumb pertaining to oysters: If the month ends in a "r" then the oyster is safe to eat, if not, then you are taking your stomach in your own hands.
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9-13-2009 @6:06PM Tracy said... Human Waste! EWWWWWWWWWWWW
This should be a lesson to all; you don't eat things that eat, poop, play, and reproduce all in the same water!
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9-13-2009 @6:52PM Bouncingbabe said... After watching Kitchen Nightmares and seeing the disgusting state of some of the food passed off to customers, I can't bring myself to eat out anymore.
I am surprised more restaurants are not closed down.
Yes, I realize its a TV show, but I doubt all of it is a set up. I am sure there are some very clean restaurant kitchens, but after this story I agree with Tracy ...Ewwwww!
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9-13-2009 @7:19PM RJ said... If he had a tainted Oyster, he would indeed have the symptoms within 2 hours. And he would have been on his way home for about a weeks worth of those symptoms and probably a visit to the emergency room for treatment of dehydration, and muscle relaxers. He also, like me, a one time victim of the same, would not be returning to any oyster bars ever again!
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9-13-2009 @7:34PM steve said... to wrldtrvlr: I used to think like you until a connoisseur of fine dining taught me the correct way to eat such delicacies. If you don't chew and allow saliva to oermeate the food, the full tastiness cannot be achieved. Ask any Dr. and they'll tell you that without saliva there is no taste to anything.Also, most of the best foods are eaten in their raw (normal) state.
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