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CMC takes Cinnamon Grand to court for serving contaminated food
The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has filed legal action in the Colombo Magistrate Court, against the Cinnamon Grand Hotel for having served contaminated food at a dinner to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 87th birthday. This follows the revelation that food served on June 19 at the 5-star hotel to around 400 guests, had been contaminated with E.coli and the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.
CMC’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ruwan Wijemuni said the case was filed under the Food Act for serving food that had been stored and prepared unhygienically. Dr Wijemuni said that 11 samples of food served that night were sent for testing to the Medical Research Institute (MRI) and the City Microbiological Laboratory (CML and both labs confirmed the presence of the pathogens in the lettuce and the butter.
He said that, usually, lettuce is at the high risk end for food poisoning because it is served ‘uncooked’ after being stored under refrigeration for long periods of time. “Also, it is garnished with mayonnaise, crabs and eggs which can be high breeding grounds for pathogens,” he said.
“Butter is usually served with the starter-buns, and that may be the reason the guests all collapsed at the beginning of the meal,” he said. He noted that food allergies, unlike food poisoning, can occur within minutes. “The two bacteria are flora-found in the oral and nasal cavities and chins of humans, and can settle easily on food, if the food is not handled hygienically,” Dr Wijemuni said. However, the hotel had medical certificates from the CML, on all food handlers, as being healthy to handle food. “All 700 had been cleared in January 2015,” he said.
Around 16 guests fell ill during the ceremony while the main menu was being served. They had symptoms of high blood pressure, rapid pulse and profuse sweating. Most were in the vulnerable age category of over 65 years, Dr. Wijemuni said.
Meanwhile, the CMC has instructed the hotel to revise its food handling practices and also to test the medical fitness of its food handlers.
It is learnt that the hotel, if found guilty, could be penalised by up to Rs.10,000.