UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

[Giuseppe]

UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

6 March 2009

The Health Protection Agency is leading the investigation into an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting associated with the Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire.


The Agency's Thames Valley Health Protection Unit (HPU) is working with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Environmental Health Department.

The aim is to establish the source of the illness and make recommendations to ensure any further risk is reduced as much as possible.

The investigation has two elements:

* Examining samples of foodstuffs from the restaurant; samples taken from people who reported being ill after eating there; samples from all members of staff; and a risk assessment of all food storage, preparation and cooking processes.

Experts from the HPA Centre for Infections are assisting by offering sensitive laboratory tests to look at possible contamination of foodstuffs by germs - either bacterial or viral - which could have occurred at any time from before supply to the restaurant to reaching the plate.

* Investigating the characteristics of all the individuals affected: their symptoms and the food they ate. The Agency also plans to do further studies among all those who ate at the restaurant during this time, whether they reported being ill or not.

The restaurant's management is co-operating fully with the investigation and closed voluntarily last week after a number of people reported being ill soon after eating at the restaurant in Bray.

The number of possible cases reported to the restaurant has risen since media coverage of the outbreak, to around 400 going back to late January and mostly through February.

Dr Graham Bickler, Regional Director of the HPA South East region said:
"This is a very complex outbreak. We are working closely with the restaurant and with colleagues in the Royal Borough's Environmental Health team to explain what happened and to ensure that the risks of it happening again are reduced as much as possible."

More?
Cllr Phillip Bicknell, the Royal Borough's lead member for public protection, said:
"Our environmental health officers and colleagues in the HPA are working hard to resolve this issue. We are committed to the welfare of our residents and visitors to the restaurant and need to ensure the investigation is thorough."

More information on illnesses like this can be obtained from the Health Protection Agency website www.hpa.org.uk/infections

Ends

Notes to editors:
Contact:
HPA SE Region Comms team: 01243 815107; 01243 815109; 07789 295454
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead comms team: 01628 796220
Cllr Phillip Bicknell, lead member for public protection: 01753 840307

Last reviewed: 6 March 2009
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<cite cite="http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1236329329064?p=1231252394302">HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

Illness Strikes Patrons of Fat Duck Restaurant in Britain - NYTimes.com

Illness Strikes Patrons of Fat Duck Restaurant in Britain

By SARAH LYALL
Published: March 6, 2009
LONDON ?

Was it something in the air? Was it something in the food? Was it some unspeakable organism lurking evilly on a countertop or skulking under a plate?


The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, England, remains closed pending the completion of tests to find out what made diners ill.

Whatever it was, it has caused hundreds of people in the past month to report becoming violently sick with projectile vomiting, sudden diarrhea and flulike symptoms after eating at the in Bray, Berkshire. The Fat Duck, which has three Michelin stars and is perhaps Britain?s most celebrated restaurant, has closed. The outbreak?s cause remains a mystery.

Britain?s Health Protection Agency said it was testing the food, testing the people who had become ill and conducting a ?risk assessment of all food storage, preparation and cooking processes.? It is testing for bacteria, viruses, patterns in the sick people?s symptoms and in the food they ate and, for good measure, testing other diners, whether or not they got sick.

?They?re looking for a bug,? said Phillip Bicknell, a local government official, ?something that?s causing the sickness, that may well be attached to the restaurant, inside or outside, or to the staff who work there, or to a customer who came in.?

The restaurant?s reopening depends on when the testing is completed.

The restaurant?s owner, the celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, decided to close it on Feb. 24 after about 40 diners said they had become ill after eating there. As news of the outbreak has spread, about 400 people in all have reported being sickened from late January through most of February.

Mr. Blumenthal declined to comment. But a spokeswoman said that none of the tests had so far proved conclusive.

The British news media have speculated that Mr. Blumenthal could be losing as much as $140,000 a week, merely in lost reservations. A regular dinner at this small restaurant in the country costs about $140, without wine. The tasting menu costs about $185.

Mr. Blumenthal said last week that he felt ?dreadful, absolutely dreadful,? and that closing the restaurant had been ?an incredibly emotional decision,? a newspaper article in The Independent reported.

The Fat Duck is considered one of the world?s most innovative practitioners of molecular gastronomy, which uses science and technology to invent new forms and combinations of food. (Mr. Blumenthal prefers the term ?sensory design.?)

Although his menu includes semi-conventional dishes, Mr. Blumenthal is perhaps best known for items like snail porridge and ?nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream? (served with tea jelly).

His Sound of the Sea dish includes seafood, foam and what some reviewers have called ?edible sand.? It is served alongside a conch shell with an iPod in it, so diners can listen to wave and seagull sounds as they eat.

Mr. Blumenthal is known for professionalism and meticulous attention to detail. He told the BBC that the restaurant regularly conducted its own tests. ?Everything is tested, from the food coming out of the ground, from the farm, into the kitchen and to the customer,? he said.

He also owns a pub in Bray, but no one has gotten sick there, said Mr. Bicknell, the local official.

Richard Harden, the co-editor of Harden?s restaurant guides in London, said he could not think of a similar case in 18 years of following the restaurant industry.

But like many others, he speculated that the diners might have come down with ?winter vomiting disease,? a highly contagious type of norovirus, or Norwalk-like virus, that has been cutting a swath through Britain. It has been particularly virulent in schools and hospitals.

Dr. Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said that the reported symptoms seemed more in line with the vomiting illness than with, say, food poisoning. If just one person in the restaurant had it, he said, it could have been passed quickly to everyone else.

Mr. Bicknell said that ?funnily enough, I had this sickness and diarrhea last weekend, and the last time I ate at the Fat Duck was about five years ago.?

He added: ?I can?t speculate, and at the end of the day the tests will show the answer one way or another. But if you want to suggest that my symptoms are the same as those being reported, that would have an element of truth in it.?
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<cite cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/world/europe/07fatduck.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">Illness Strikes Patrons of Fat Duck Restaurant in Britain - NYTimes.com</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - update

Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - update

11 March 2009

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has advised managers of the Fat Duck Restaurant in Berkshire that they can re-open tomorrow (Thursday March 12th).


The Agency and local environmental health officers from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead consider it safe to reopen as the Fat Duck management has agreed to comply with all the recommendations made after a thorough risk assessment was carried out by the HPA's Thames Valley Health Protection Unit and the environmental health team.

Preliminary findings from the investigation into what caused around 400 people to report being ill soon after eating at the restaurant have informed the advice given so far, but the investigation is ongoing. So far no one source has been identified. Results of some tests are still awaited and the detailed questioning of people who reported illness is likely to continue for some weeks in order to build a more complete picture.

Risk assessments in outbreaks of illness connected to the food industry like this routinely include looking at any high risk foods from point of supply to the food reaching the plate; the environment - both in the restaurant and food preparation areas; cleaning methods and materials and food preparation.

The restaurant will continue to work with the Health Protection Agency and the Royal Borough's environmental health team until the investigation is completed.

Ends

Contact:
SE Region Comms team on 01243 815107/815109.

Last reviewed: 11 March 2009
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<cite cite="http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1236757338238?p=1231252394302">HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - update</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

UK. Fat Duck re-opens, but illness is still a mystery - The Independent

Fat Duck re-opens, but illness is still a mystery

By Martin Hickman
Thursday, 12 March 2009

Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant will re-open today with the blessing of environmental health officers ? but without shellfish dishes.


As a "precaution", the chef has taken all oysters, langoustine, mussels and other shellfish ? which are notorious for causing food poisoning ? off the menu until the Government health watchdog concludes its investigation.

Several test results are yet to come back but no evidence has been found during the 15-day inquiry that could link the illness to food poisoning ? a gastro bug could be the cause.

Health Protection Agency officials gave the Fat Duck the all-clear after testing its kitchen and ingredients to get to the root of the illness mystery. About 400 diners reported falling ill after eating at the Fat Duck between the end of January and the end of February.

Blumenthal is not commenting until the investigation is over. His spokeswoman said: "We are very excited to be re-opening. We will be open at lunchtime tomorrow and we are hoping to be back to normal as soon as possible."

The Health Protection Agency said Fat Duck management agreed to comply with all the recommendations that environmental health officers made after conducting a risk assessment of the premises. It would not specify what the recommendations were.

"Preliminary findings... have informed the advice given so far, but the investigation is ongoing. So far no one source has been identified."

The detailed questioning of people who reported illness is likely to continue for some weeks in order to build a more complete picture."

Blumenthal is thought to have lost more than ?100,000 in earnings during the closure.Up to 1,000 diners who had their bookings cancelled will be offered new ones.

Blumenthal's spokeswoman said he would consider whether any compensation should be paid to diners once the HPA investigation was complete.
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<cite cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/fat-duck-reopens-but-illness-is-still-a-mystery-1643074.html">Fat Duck re-opens, but illness is still a mystery - News, Food & Drink - The Independent</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - update

Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - update

20 March 2009

The Health Protection Agency is aware of reports in the media about norovirus being linked to the outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting illness associated with the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire.


The in-depth investigation into what has caused 529 people to date to report being ill after eating at the restaurant is continuing and so far, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has detected norovirus infection in six staff and eight diners and weaknesses in how staff sickness was identified and dealt with.

Based on staff interviews, sickness records and samples taken, it is clear that staff worked while still infectious with norovirus.

HPA guidance* states that people should not work in food preparation while they have symptoms/are infectious as a result of diarrhoea and vomiting to avoid the risk of passing the infection to others.

Advice given to the restaurant by the HPA and environmental health officers from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead prior to its reopening last week, included guidance on the identification and management of staff illness.

When the Health Protection Agency's investigation is complete, a full report will be published.

Ends

Notes to Editors:
*Preventing person-to-person spread following gastrointestinal infections: guidelines for public health physicians and environmental health officers
(Prepared by a Working Group of the former PHLS Advisory Committee on Gastrointestinal Infections, December 2004)

Diarrhoea and vomiting can be caused by infections or non-infectious agents. All cases of gastroenteritis should, however, be regarded as infectious unless good evidence suggests otherwise.
ALL cases of gastroenteritis should be regarded as potentially infectious and should normally be excluded, from work, school or other institutional settings, at least until 48 hours after the person is free from diarrhoea and/or vomiting.
Groups that pose an increased risk of spreading infectionIt is particularly important to assess infected people who belong to one of the four groups for whom special action should be considered.
* Group A: Any person of doubtful personal hygiene or with unsatisfactory toilet, hand-washing or hand drying facilities at home, work or school.
* Group B: Children who attend pre-school groups or nursery.
* Group C: People whose work involves preparing or serving unwrapped foods not subjected to further heating.

Further information on Norovirus and other causes of gastrointestinal illness can be found on the HPA website: http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Pa...=1191942150117

Media contact:
HPA Communications team 07789 295454/ 01243 815109

Last reviewed: 20 March 2009
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<cite cite="http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1237535658892?p=1231252394302">HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - update</cite>

[Farmer]

Re: UK. HPA - Investigation at Fat Duck Restaurant - statement

"ALL cases of gastroenteritis should be regarded as potentially infectious and should normally be excluded, from work, school or other institutional settings, at least until 48 hours after the person is free from diarrhoea and/or vomiting."

I am afraid that we will continue to have problems with outbreaks of enteric illness among foodhandlers and food consumers without some changes.

In the US, it is unusual for part time and/or low wage workers to have paid sick leave. How many people can afford to take 3-5 days unpaid when they are ill? Few can. Therefore, they go to work and outbreaks occur.