Tag Archives: wire brush

Beware wire brushes: French chef sentenced in New York to negligence

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Craig Barritt of Le Monde.fr, reports a small metal wire in a coq au vin could be very expensive to the famous French chef Daniel Boulud: one of his New York restaurants was ordered to pay $ 1.3 million in damages to a customer who had be emergency surgery after swallowing.

daniel-bouludThe client, Barry Brett, had gone with his wife on 28 February 2015, the restaurant Bistro Moderne, on 44th Street, near Times Square in Manhattan, where he ordered a coq au vin.

Mr. Brett soon felt a foreign object in the throat and had to leave the restaurant, according to the complaint registered on 15 April, seen by AFP.

He had gone to the emergency where he had surgery. The surgeon had identified the object as a wire of 2.5 cm in length, from a cleaning brush. An infection could be fatal, according to his lawyers.

In a ruling Thursday, the New York court found that the restaurant had been “negligent” and sentenced him to pay $ 1.3 million in damages – including 1 million for pain and suffering – Mr. Brett plus 11,000 dollars to his wife.

The restaurant known for its chic bistro-style kitchen, and for launching the “gourmet” burgers in 2001, declined to comment.

According to the lawyer of the institution, J.P. Bottari, the defendant is considering appeals against this judgment, mainly against the moral damage. “It was not intentional,” said the lawyer told AFP, saying that hurt feelings could be withheld if the defendant acted knowingly.

He said, as he had done during the trial, Barry Brett had waited four days before going to the hospital, which had contributed greatly to aggravate his condition.

Counsel for Barry Brett, Elizabeth Eilender, expressed her “very satisfied” that the jury recognized the severity of injuries his client and recalled “how he (was) dangerous to use a brush metal near food. “

For her, “the restaurant has never wanted to take responsibility” and, instead, “sought to overwhelm the victim.”

Daniel Boulud appeared last year in the ranking of the magazine Le Chef 100 chefs in the world, “in which he must have been” in 36th position. It has ten restaurants in New York, including “Daniel”, the most famous, and twenty restaurants across the world.

 

Gas issues? Australian restaurant closed after wire in fried rice

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A popular Chinese restaurant in Brisbane was shut down after a woman suffered severe throat trauma when she swallowed part of a stainless steel pot scrubber in her fried rice late last month.

Fried-Rice-037Maxine Dosen was dining with her father at Bamboo Basket Chinese Restaurant, in the Portside precinct at Hamilton, when she ordered a small serving of fried rice.

“It all happened so quickly,” Ms Dosen said.

“I put this fried rice in my mouth and suddenly felt something sharp, like a prawn shell, go down my throat.

“I tried to bring it back up my throat and pulled this long, curly thing out of my mouth and put it down on a red napkin.”

She said stretched out on the table was a 4cm piece metal stretched. She also coughed up several metal shavings.

Having a history of digestive issues and bowel operations, Ms Dosen was raced to hospital as her doctors feared the metal may have entered her bowel.

Ms Dosen ended up with severe oesophageal scratching.

The injury developed into a serious infection, causing her to lose her voice.

A Brisbane City Council spokeswoman told The Courier-Mail an immediate on-site investigation was conducted at the restaurant.

“Council has issued the business with an immediate suspension of the restaurant’s food business licence and will continue to investigate the alleged stainless steel contaminant,” the spokeswoman said.

“The business will remain closed until council is satisfied the restaurant does not pose a safety risk to the public.”

A sign on the front door to the restaurant yesterday cited “unforeseen gas issues” as the reason for the closure and hoped to restore operations shortly.

Washington man sues Domino’s over wire bristles left in pizza

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JoNel Aleccia, now of The Seattle Times, writes that an Auburn man is suing a local Domino’s Pizza outlet over claims he swallowed wire bristles from a cleaning brush left behind in his takeout order, which pierced his intestines and required emergency surgery.

pizza.oven.wire.brushMike Norman, 50, a Boeing product manager, said he took one bite of a Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza Sept. 19, only to feel a “sharp tearing” in his throat. He washed the pizza down with juice and bread, but said he later felt a “dull pain” in his gut.

Doctors eventually removed two 1 ½-inch fine-gauge wire bristles from his stomach, according to a complaint filed this week in Pierce County Superior Court. One of the wires had pierced Norman’s small bowel, doctors told his wife, Diane Norman, 48, a preschool teacher and day-care operator.

“It could have been lethal,” she said. Mike Norman’s abdomen now sports a 5-inch scar, photos show.

Kenra Keller, vice president of Carpe Diem Pizza Inc., which does business as Domino’s Pizza 7047, in Milton, Pierce County, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Tim McIntyre, a spokesman for Domino’s Pizza corporate offices, said by email that he couldn’t comment on a lawsuit filed against an independently owned franchise, but he added that such businesses are required to follow local, state and federal health regulations.

The Normans, who are represented by Seattle food-safety lawyer Bill Marler, are seeking damages for injuries and loss of income. But they said they’d also like to send a wider warning to food-service employees — and consumers — about the rare but risky danger posed by using wire-bristle brushes to scour grills and ovens.