Claims have come out this week that Melbourne’s prestigious Langham Hotel, which was linked to a serious salmonella outbreak earlier this week, was previously ‘infested with cockroaches, mice and other vermin’.
Investigations have found that 60 guests who dined on High Tea at the hotel on 11 and 12 July have been struck-down with food poisoning, six of which required hospitalisation.
A source has reportedly told the Herald Sun that the kitchen of the iconic hotel was almost shut down on more than one occasion.
‘Melbourne City Council had been in there a bunch of times and fined them. There were cockroaches, mice, and all sorts of vermin that should not have been anywhere near a kitchen,’ claims the source.
Hotel denies the reports
The Langham Hotel has strongly denied these allegations and state that the claims of failing food safety inspections are false.
‘We categorically deny the presence of vermin as it is absolutely untrue. It is also complete untrue that The Langham has been fined nor did it fail inspections,’ said the hotel’s managing director Ben Sington in a statement issued following the outbreak.
‘In February 2014 it was asked to make improvements which it immediately did. We did change pest control companies as they did not meet our exacting standards.’
A serious case of food poisoning
Reports have surfaced that a baby was born prematurely after the mother fell ill soon after attending the High Tea to celebrate her baby shower.
The baby boy, who currently remains in hospital receiving medical treatment, had to be delivered five weeks early.
Salmonella, which can cause severe instances of food poisoning, has so far proven to have caused 17 cases of illness in diners who attending the High Tea, with more tests still pending.