PEI norovirus restaurant employs the Fat Duck Defense; blames suppliers

Following up on that norovirus outbreak linked to a restaurant in Prince Edward Island, Canada, the one where the restaurant said it has never had a food safety problem and that its ingredients were fresh and local – and where at least 48 people are barfing – a barfblog.com reader wrote:

"It’s a shame don’t you think? I was one of the unfortunate diners to get sick from eating there, and even after having 48 people reporting to the health department about being sick, the restaurant hasn’t been shut down for a thorough cleaning, and nothing has been done, no apology or anything, and even worse, when my sister-in-law called the restaurant to talk with them, they denied it and said it couldn’t have happened since they never got sick from eating the food (two people from the restaurant have since admitted to being sick) and then said it must have come from her suppliers."

(This is known as the Fat Duck Defense in honor of Heston Blumenthal and his staff sickening over 500 customers with norovirus in the U.K. in early 2009.)

"Unfortunately we will probably never find out what it was that caused all of us to become sick."

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time