Thirteen food poisoning cases reported at Nottingham takeaway restaurant

A leading lawyer has warned restaurants they face expensive legal action if they do not maintain the safety of their food after a Nottingham takeaway was forced to close after a food poisoning outbreak.

The Khyber Pass takeaway on Gregory Boulevard in Hyson Green in Nottingham, was closed on Thursday June 26, after officers from the City Council’s Community Protection service visited the property following reports that thirteen customers had visited hospital with suspected food poisoning after eating at the restaurant.

Michelle Victor, from law firm Leigh Day, who represented around 150 victims of an east London kebab house, A1 Kebabish, thought to be the UK’s largest takeaway food poisoning outbreak, said that owners of restaurants and takeaways needed to be aware of the financial consequences of these outbreaks.

Michelle Victor, food poisoning claims lawyer at Leigh Day, said:

“These establishments have one single aim and that is to serve safe food to their customers. Nobody should be in any doubt as to the minimal safety standards required to sell food in this country.

“Compromising the safety of customers will hit owners of takeaways and restaurants hard. Not only lost revenue but also the threat of compensation should also be in their minds.

“Food poisoning is a debilitating illness and the pain, suffering and loss resulting from it is what we seek to recover from those at fault.”

Food poisoning symptoms, which include vomiting, diarrhoea and fever, can leave victims weak and dehydrated.

According to Paul Dales of Community Protection: “We have been notified about thirteen people who have been admitted to QMC with food poisoning symptoms.

"We have established that the common connection between the affected people, from different households, is that they ate food from the Khyber Pass take-away on Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green, in the past few days.

“Our officers have gone to the premises to assess the situation and have taken the decision to close it down temporarily under an emergency order, so that further investigations can take place. Tests will be carried out to establish what type of food poisoning we are dealing with.

“In the meantime, if anyone thinks they may have been affected by this, they should seek medical advice in the first instance and contact us on 0115 876 1488.”

Dr Vanessa MacGregor, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control at Public Health England East Midlands said: “Following a number of reports of people having diarrhoea and vomiting after eating food from the restaurant, we are looking into what has caused the food poisoning.

"Hygiene advice has been given to affected customers and to the restaurant staff, to help with recovery and stop the illness spreading. Although very unpleasant, people with a gastrointestinal illness will usually recover within a few days although more severe cases can be treated with antibiotics.”