news, crime

The owner of Ricardo's Cafe will fight criminal charges after more than 100 people reported falling ill from eating at the Belconnen establishment, a court heard on Wednesday. Rick De Marco has been charged with eight offences, including negligently selling unsafe food after the alleged outbreak early last year. The alleged source of the food poisoning was the cafe's smoothies and cronuts. On February 2 last year ACT Health received several complaints from people who had eaten at the cafe. Authorities closed the popular eatery on February 14 before it reopened on February 18, after passing the necessary compliance checks. Between January 28 and February 15 last year, more than 19 people were admitted to hospital and up to 100 people reported being sick after eating at the cafe. There were 75 confirmed cases of salmonella. It was reported at the time that authorities had found salmonella on Chux dishcloths and tea towels. One woman told the Canberra Times that she spent four days in hospital with a high temperature, kidney failure, severe dehydration and lost eight kilograms in 10 days. She said she had drunk a smoothie from the cafe. Another woman reported eating a cronut from the cafe and had to go to the emergency department. She later tested positive for salmonella. Salmonellosis is an infection caused by the bacteria salmonella and can cause gastrointestinal illness with symptoms of fever, stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting. It is often spread through the consumption of contaminated food. Raw or undercooked eggs, meat and poultry are particularly high risk foods. In the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, Mr De Marco's solicitor Adrian McKenna said his client maintained the pleas of not guilty to all charges. The charges under Canberra's food safety laws are that he negligently sold unsafe food, failed to transport food in compliance with standards, and handled food to make it unsafe. He faces a further charge of failing to ensure a closure notice was not obscured. The case was set down for hearing on September 24.

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