This is our fakap: Katsurin tells what really happened in the restaurant in Lviv, where 119 people were poisoned
24 July 09:49
Ukrainian restaurateur Mykhailo Katsurin has admitted that the actual number of people who were poisoned at his restaurant Chinese Hello in Lviv is almost twice as high as reported by epidemiologists. In a post on Instagram, he named the cause of the poisoning and outlined how the team responds to crises, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
This is Katsurin’s first statement since he reported the poisoning almost a week ago.
“118 guests fell ill (119 with me). The media write about 75, but there are more, and we are in contact with everyone. 46 people are still in the hospital, but by the end of the week, thank God, most of them will be home,” Katsurin said.
According to him, all of the poisoned patrons ate Singaporean cheesecake, which was served in the restaurant on July 14 and 15. The dessert contained egg cream, a product in which salmonella multiplies particularly well. In addition, the cheesecake was cooked at a temperature below 70°C, which is not enough to kill the bacteria.
What the laboratory tests showed
“Products are clean, 2 cooks have salmonellosis,” the restaurateur said.
It turned out that both kitchen workers had also eaten cheesecake. One of them is a sous chef who is obliged to taste dishes as part of his job duties, and the other is a preparer who tried the dessert on his own. This fact is confirmed by the video from the surveillance cameras.
“We do not know whether they are carriers or victims,” Katsurin wrote.
Both had valid medical records at the time of employment. At the same time, some of the team did not have such documents.
“This is our fakery. However, it has nothing to do with the poisoning, because those who do not have medical records are healthy,” he emphasized.
There is no final conclusion as to the origin of the salmonella. The pastry chefs who made the cheesecake are healthy, and the eggs taken for laboratory analysis were sterile. Katsurin suggests that the contamination could have come from another egg tray.
What the team is doing now
After the incident, the China Hello team took a number of steps to remedy the situation:
- Reimbursed the treatment of the victims;
- Follows all the recommendations of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection;
- Changing the egg supplier;
- Switching to pasteurized egg mixes where possible;
- Completely restarts the security system throughout the restaurant chain;
- Introduces an international food safety management system, for which Katsurin is personally responsible.
“I will tell you about the process!” the restaurateur promised.
It should be noted that law enforcement officers have launched a pre-trial investigation into the incident. As the police clarified, the report of the poisoning appeared on social media, after which the victims began to turn to hospitals. Experts examined the facility and are conducting an epidemiological investigation into the causes and conditions of the outbreak. Laboratory tests are ongoing.
