Hong Kong’s Mandarin hotel removes seafood items amid food poisoning cases

Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel has removed certain seafood items, including raw oysters, from its restaurants’ menus after eight people reportedly fell ill after consuming them.The luxury five-star hotel in Central said it was closely monitoring the situation and was working in full cooperation with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) in their investigation.“Following the recent report regarding alleged food poisoning from contaminated seafood items, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong can confirm that these items are no longer being served in any restaurant at the hotel and the supply has been discontinued,” a hotel spokesman said.The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Monday that a total of eight people were affected in two epidemiologically linked food poisoning clusters at the hotel. Its field investigation indicated that the individuals might have contracted food poisoning from consuming raw food.The individuals, in two separate groups, had dinner at the Clipper Lounge at the hotel on January 31 and February 2, respectively. Between 25 and 75 hours after their meals, they developed diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and fever.The CHP said preliminary investigation findings revealed that the dishes they had in common included raw oysters, salmon sashimi, crab legs, and brown crab.A preliminary investigation found that the diners had all eaten similar dishes including raw oysters, salmon sashimi, crab legs, and brown crab. Photo: Getty Images