Food Illness Outbreak Confirmed in Prague

A stall at a popular food festival may have served a bad Eggs Benedict sandwich say hygiene authorities

Elizabeth Zahradnicek-Haas

Written by Elizabeth Zahradnicek-Haas Published on 15.07.2016 10:53:36 (updated on 15.07.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

The Prague hygiene authority has now confirmed that 131 people have come forward with complaints of abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea after attending the Apetit Piknik food festival at Grébovka on June 25, reports iDnes. Numbers, however, are still not definitive.

Laboratory tests performed on an unknown number of festival attendees found salmonella in 14 people, said a representative from the hygiene inspectorate. Over a hundred more have reported symptoms of the illness since then.

It is believed that the contamination may have come from a poached egg sandwich, 200 portions of which were prepared for the festival by the Two Eggs booth.

Photo: Two Eggs / Facebook
Photo: Two Eggs / Facebook

Reports from hygiene authorities state that the eggs were prepared in a household where the company is not approved to operate and may have possibly been sourced from an unregistered domestic breed. That allegation is currently being investigated by the State Veterinary Administration.

Tereza Havrdová, who operates the Two Eggs catering company says that it has not yet been confirmed that the illness was from their dish.

Czech chef Kamila Rundusová has spoken out in support of Havrdová noting how hard it is to prepare for a food festival and saying that such events could not function without cooks prepping at home.

Facebook flacks are saying otherwise on the Two Eggs page, including one post which asks: “How can you prepare a meal with eggs in June outside, just on a plastic box?”

Another comment suggested that “All bio and farm markets must change and wake up to the 21st Century and respect fundamental rules including hygiene and common sense.”

Read the official report from the hygiene authority here.

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