Food poisoning outbreak at Taste of Cayman
(CNS): Updated 2pm — Government officials have confirmed that at least 20 people may have been brought down with food poisoning just hours after attending this year’s Taste of Cayman event at Camana Bay on Saturday evening. Patients began arriving at the Cayman Islands hospital after attending the food festival complaining of diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps from around midnight on Saturday night. Dr Kiran Kumar said the food poisoning symptoms came 4 to 6 hours after consumption of food at the event. Based on the symptoms, the public health boss said this pointed to staphylococcal, an organism that is widely prevalent, which multiplies and produces toxin.
Officials have not yet been able to trace the source of the bug but Dr Kumar said tests could be done on leftover suspected food. "The suspected food or foods involved will be based on a common thread of usage by the patients," he said. "It is difficult to pinpoint due to many persons who ate specific food and did not get sick and people who have eaten at many vendors."
It is understood that most of the patients recovered quickly and were released from hospital without any further adverse consequences.
Public health officials said several more people are understood to have taken ill but they did not seek treatment or attended private surgeries. One confirmed case was also reported at the Chrissie Tomlinson Hospital.
Anyone who believes they were sick on Saturday night-Sunday morning as a result of food eaten at the event but who has not sought medical attention is asked to contact the Public Health Department's Surveillance Officer at timothy.mclaughlin@hsa.ky or call on 244-2651 or 244-221 to help the department get full picture of the symptoms and foods eaten.
CNS has also contacted the Department of Environmental Health to ascertain how food safety and hygiene standards are managed at the event and is awaiting a response.
The annual food extravaganza organized by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association attracted more than 5,000 people this year and was the biggest in the event's history.
CITA Executive Director, Jane van der Bol, said over 43 food and beverage vendors attended and it was unfortunate to hear that people were reported with food poison symptoms.
"The CITA is actively working with the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) and the Health Services Authority (HSA) to investigate further the cause of the food poisoning. The CITA is also pro-actively working with the DEH and HSA on creating improved food handling procedures for all future outdoor events in Cayman that offer food and beverage services," she added.
Category: Health
The article says 20 people sick? That's a laugh, I know 20 people who got sick other than me. None of us went to the hospital. I'm sure there were plenty of tourist that got sick as well. Word around town is dozens, if not hundreds got sick.
This article really should be updated and the story followed up. We shouldn't just sweep this under the rug, please report the news for the people instead of protecting certain people from bad publicity. It would be better for Taste Of Cayman and the other vendors not responsible to get the facts. I'm already hearing a lot of people say they will not go back if they don't know the vendor responsible.
I guess we should look to see what restaurant pays for a lot of upcoming advertising.
I guess the investigation is over? No reply as to who is responsible? Need some follow up reporting. I was one of the ones that got sick and didn't go to the hospital. I haven't called anyone to officially let my case be known. I would like to hear who was responsible.XXXX Would love some clarification.
This is crazy, they need to be more responsible handling people's food!
I watched an interview with Jane van der Bol on Cayman 27 News. She called the outbreak an "unfortunate event." I'm sure it was! No apology. No promise to try to find out how it happened. No promise to those who supported the TOC event that CITA will do all it can avoid the same problem happenin next year. No extension of compensation to those who fell sick — free entry to next year's event would have been both thoughtful and a great PR exercise. If the Executive Director of CITA choses to treat the outbreak of a very disabling illness with complete indifference, I hope members of the public keep this very unfortunate episode in mind when the event is advertised next year.
Come on 22:58, it's a bit harsh to accuse this lady of treating the incident "with complete indifference." Right there in the CNS article she said it was "unfortunate to hear that people were reported with food poison symptoms." The article further quotes her as saying "The CITA is actively working with the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) and the Health Services Authority (HSA) to investigate further the cause of the food poisoning. The CITA is also pro-actively working with the DEH and HSA on creating improved food handling procedures for all future outdoor events in Cayman that offer food and beverage services."
On the Cayman 27 TV News site the article quotes her as saying "This is a terrible thing that has happened. This is so heartbreaking. No one wants to be sick. … We will learn from this and do our best to ensure this does not ever happen again … We are taking this very seriously … For the future Taste of Cayman festivals we will have some type of vendor training to ensure proper food safety is carried out. The restaurants are not at their normal place for serving food, so we will need to ensure they know how to handle food when they come to Taste of Cayman to serve food.” The TV clip didn't air those statements but in the clip the news announcer did mention that CITA, the HSA and Dr. Kumar would be discussing training and how food is handled at future events.
Doesn't sound like indifference to me!
I think TOC needs to be spread out over a long weekend and certain mix of vendors get only one showcase/display and offer QUALITY with less QUANTITY and a win win situation for everyone. This will give all the booths a better chance of being visited and attract a new future customer with presentation,style and most important friendliness.
"CITA is also pro-actively working with the DEH and HSA on creating improved food handling procedures for all future outdoor events" – Improved? Why? The majority of vendors appear to have followed proper procedures and the sickness was not widespread to more of the 5000 attendees.
My guess is that one or two vendors did not follow current procedures and a few people got sick.
The problem is not the procedures, but whether people follow them or not.
The TOC was poorly run last year for some of the vendors who were treated like 2nd class citizens, especially if you were a small Caymanian owned business. Last year there was even a case of an unregistered food vendor piggy backing it in another vendors stall. When this was reported to TOC nothing happened. This year it was terrible for the customers. So sorry that so many got sick.
XXXX
The new Director will need a crash course in PR , if all she can say is 5000 people came and only 0.03% got food poisioning. Is that the best that she can do to decrease the colleteral damage? How can she give a percentage when the "true numbers" are not yet known. But I dont suspect that we will ever hear the full extent of the food poisioning and obviously even if the source is tracked, they will never be revealed.
I enjoyed the TOC that was spread throughout Caymana Bay in the past other than only getting hotdogs for my money as all the booths had run out of food. This time was the worst yet. I will not be going back.
An hour in line not to buy tickets but to show my ticket to get in all the while listening to some guy barking at people to "move along". I wasn't given my raffle ticket. The hour long process of just getting in put me in a foul mood right out of the gate. Then to get near any food was a challenge. Then I find that food is running out at some booths. 5000 people rammed into that small space along the water. I could barely move. Not my idea of fun to wait in line for two mouthfuls of food each time then have to get in some other line. I didn't get anywhere near my moneys worth out of this. Not even close. I left hungry.
Then, to top it off, I got to spend the rest of my evening at home in and out of the bathroom. Talk about icing on the cake. I'm sorry to all those who worked hard on this event but from my perspective as someone attending this was a complete disaster. Instead of showcasing the high quality restaurants we have here people got sick. I genuinely regret going.
I had a late lunch so I didn't go to ToC for my dinner.
I can tell you that it was NOT Agua's Ceviche. I had about 6 helpings.
Did someone say glutton?
This taste of Cayman event should be held in each district each year. Wha wrong wid una people anyway. Fe Pete,s sake ye gaw keep telling una every thing.
Ok Stop one minute, think about it TASTE OF CAYMAN.
Now will someone tell me in plain old English why this cannot be held in each district. Go head tell me. Because I cannot fathom an excuse.
Imagine it could run like this. Each District on a Friday Night could have this. Meaning, this Friday Night East End, Nest Friday night North Side, then Bodden Town, George Town and West Bay. and of course Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Get the opportunity to visit all of them, taste all of the nice food to be sampled, and use a Box with paper and pensil by each station to vote on the food station.
At the end of six or seven weeks, we then count which district had the most votes and we have a big event and give a Trophy. How does that sound. Ok , now it is open for yes or no, sounds good or maybe so.
I love Caymana Bay, but too many things are centered areound there now. Spread the activities out to some of the districts. Come on now. Who is to blame but MY PEOPLE
I woulld really like to know what it is that invironmental health is doing to receive a salary. These fast food places are not being checked. They should be checked weekly for cleanliness of food and staff, because things that happen is unbelievable. It is not reported. Imagine people go to the bathroom, clean you know what and make you a hamburger without washing hands.
The investigation staff of that department needs to change. XXXX
When ya sittin in ya chevy n ya feel sumpn heavy…diarreah, diarreah
I remember when TOC was a well planned event. The first year when I attended was at the beach where the Westin hotel is now then a few more years over by the huge piece of land between Sunshine Suites and the Ritz.. It sure did have a Cayman flare and flavour to it. Come on CITA and the restaurant association you can do beeter than this. To me The Cayman Islands isn't being promoted here its Camana Bay. We need to bring back more traditions to events like this and why such a high price increase. Bring back the raffle, with a piece of land or a house or a energy efficient car gas/electric or electric. Come on CITA start promoting this annual event and the other events with a more of cayman theme. that's my 2 cents for what its worth…. Sorry to all those who got sick, but I for one don't visit the hospital as the service is far from well lets say it is not great… Thanfully there are private doctors who take the time and do care… Hospital too many horror stories at the Govt hospital, sorry….
Although I like Camana Bay, I agree with this poster. I get tired of going to C Bay for every event that comes up. It gets a bit old after a while, and frankly, it's nicer to shop and dine there when an event is not taking place. I don't know if more people attend when events are held at Camana Bay or if it has to do with the streetscape itself, but things always seem more crowded there — so crowded it is difficult to properly enjoy the events taking place.
It would be nice to have a bit of variety — not just Camana Bay and town.
I also preferred when it was in the big open area next to Ritz … and you were free to sample from all the participants. Not a system where you sample 5-10 only. But the fact that the event was sold out means that many disagree with us unfortunately,
For many a year I have been wondering if we do have an environmental health on this Island. If so they perhaps need training. Alot of these people handling food are nasty and do not have a clue about higeine. Years back when we had Miss Threepence from North Side, Miss Cooney and other Caymanians selling their food you never had to worry if it was clean. Now a days when you attend a food stall from afar back you can see the place smoking out with jerk food. This kind of cooking do not relate to Cayman whatsoever. Next but not least I wonder why enviromental dont go around and check on the Beauty Salons that are making so many people including men get fungus nails. Some of the so called Salons do not even have proper tubs for cleaning your feet, nor sterilizing kit for their combs brushes and nail cleaning equipment. We need a very clean Caymanian especially from West Bay to assist in checking out these Salons. I was the third person the Doctor confirmed to me one night at the hospital with nail fungus.An example of how a Beauty Salon should be kept is Miss Judys. She should be employed to give lessons to some others.
I gave you a thumbs down when you said a Caymanian from West Bay. Everything else made sense. I don't see how it matters where the person who is doing the food handling course is from as long as the course is done. The same goes for the nail salons and I do agree with that. I saw someone come in to a salon and ask for a nail clipper to cut their nail and then returned the nail to the drawer. I was quite disgusted when I saw that.
Sounds like they got a "taste" of something alright; but it wasn't a "taste of Cayman", that's for sure! Sad, disgusting, and dangerous. Food poisoning can kill.
the peopleCooking food commercially for others to eat demands high health and safety standards, which were obviously ignored by some participants at TOC. If someone can identify the culprit(s) shop them; they deserve to be exposed. Furthermore, the food industry should establish a regulatory authority (apart from any government body) to ensure hygiene standards are maintained. The food industry and the organisers of TOC must appreciate that this epiosode seriously threatens the TOC project, especially if a blind eye is turned to this epiosde and no steps are taken to guarantee this will never happen again.
TOC organisers: Comments?
15 reported cases, and I also know of at least 10 cases where people did not go to the hospital. This is far more widespread than people imagine and I hope everyone who was ill reports it so they can pin point where this originated. This was by far the worst reaction I have ever had to food.
Almost everyone who got sick stayed home and are not reporting it to the authorities. The official reported issue was approx 35 (per Compass). But via work, friends and neighbours that went, I already know of more than 35 cases.
It wasn’t the Caybrew thats for sure or I would be a dead man right now!!
20:16 O LAUD YE GEEIN MI PAIN BELLY., ha Ha ha ha. No saw, Una sweet ye see.
I got sick and I did not even go there. It must have been bad.
I feel sorry for all the people who got sick and the volunteers who worked around the clock to make the event happen.
we should all march on the govenor's house!!!
How many bathrooms does he have?
We were sick till 10am the following day, our kids didn't stop crying all night.
We did not go to the hospital, as we could not bear waiting for hours.
We will not be returning to Tase of Cayman next year. Neither will our friends up the road who also felt unwell
To 7:41 the news only got out because the event was kept on DartLand. Will someone tell me if the symptoms were itches over your back, arms and legs? If so I was poisoned too. When I felt the itch coming on I had some Bush Herb and washed the sucker out. One hour after drinking the Herb tea the itching was gone and the 'runnings' began. Anyway, my stomach was very flat next morning so I really have no complaints.
@Frank, karma will come around to show you how not a big deal food poisoning is…Maybe when you are away on holiday somewhere…Three of our party were woken up at midnight with the most violent illness I have witnessed. I can only imagine how this affected anyone older or any children. We spoke with the hospital and they were overwhelmed with patients to the point that they weren’t sure when/if an ambulance would be able to come if we needed one.
Taste of Cayman may have been a well planned event, but it was not particularly well executed. Camana Bay looked beautiful, the fireworks were fantastic and most of the food was delicious, even the offending plate. However, depending on when you arrived, to an event that advertised it served from 5 until 10pm, you either got herded through and yelled at or did not get the wine pours/glasses, lanyards, or even utensils! For such a pricey event, we assumed food safety and receiving what was promised was a given…
We are fairly certain of the origin…I assure you it was not alcohol related.
Sooo – will there be digned disclaimers next year?
OR who shall we hold liable if the worse happens..?
One of our friends also got it. Fairly easy to pin down which booth since he ate at about 4 or 5 that we didn't.
As far as the event goes, I have gone for many years and after the line up and hearding through that S thing, I will not go back. I enjoyed it back on the dirt field but I think the best one was a couple years ago when it was spread out over camana bay.
P.S. I am yet to figure out how you won a gate prize since I came home with every tag on my wrist….
Wonder whether it would be possible to trace the culprit. Our family ate at different stands and apart from my food seeming undercooked at one stand (which I did not finish) everything was great and nobody got sick. Favourite by far Michael's Lionfish soup!!!
Me, at T of C 2012 and beyond? No boy, i & i sticking to Corner's restaurant!
The symptoms must have been pretty bad for all those people to go to the hospital! I wonder how many people there were who were affected and just toughed it out at home?!
I think there was a lot more than 20 people poisoned. I know of 4 that got sick and didn't go to hospital. I'm glad TOC is so unnafordable or I might have been there too
This has been an issue for years with Batabano, Chili Cook-off, Pirate's Week and Soup-er Bowl. Restaurants send their wait-staff and bartenders to be food handlers for the night at these events and few (if any) have actually taken the DEH's 2 day Food Hygiene Certification Course.
It's pretty simple: all participating restaurants should submit their roster of certified food-handling staff before the event. Nametags should only go to those qualified individuals that present their ID at check in. Don't take food from anyone not wearing a name tag.
It would be understandable if CITA/DEH insisted upon this for future events; assuming there really is genuine remorse and a willingness to take logical steps improve health standards. Somehow this topic keeps coming up and CITA/DEH look the other way again!
Thats the danger of eating in the open air and at nights, especially. I for one likes to see what I am eating. I would rather sit at my dining room table and eat my 2 dollar supper.
You can see staph, and it doesn’t change the taste of the food. So eating in the light won’t help.
Staph lives on the skin of many (approx. 25%) people, it is usually transferred when someone has bacteria in larger quantities due toa cut handles food. To prevent staph poisoning food workers need to wash their hands and wear gloves if they have any cuts. Basic hygiene. Once staph is in the food you can’t kill it by cooking the food like you can with e-coli. But, if the food is keep at proper temperatures ( cold or hot) the staph won’t multiple. To have this outbreak, offending vendor had not one but two major violations of safe food handling as well as common sense.
I'm sorry to all the people with negative comments, but we certainly had a fantastic time at ToC! Granted we did not get food poisoning, as I'm sure was the same for most of the people who attended. I thought the food was great and was not at all disappointed in what we got. I wasn't sure whyfood and drink tickets could not simply be interchangeable but not that big of a deal. To the person who made this comment: "There is no question that the kitchens of our restaurants are more and more being manned by persons who originate from places which are not particularly known for food hygiene." you are ridiculous and seriously xenophobic. As a foodie that travels a lot, I find the restaurants on this island to be for the most part suburb with quality standards beating most "1st world" or "western" standards across the globe. Thanks CITA, can't wait for next year!
there were far more than 15 people sick….so many stories coming around of people who stayed at home, up most of night and into morning vomiting …..whoever thinks this is not news worthy has no idea how serious food poisoning can be, imagine if the sick were children or older people, the results could be devastating
the taste of cayman people need to show us how they monitor food preparation and cleanliness throughout the event…chances are they dont at all. Imagine if soneone died? who'd be responsible? Camana Bay? CITA? the restaurants? which one….cause they may not be able tonarrow it down…etc
taste of cayman is a great event…but they've gone way too big last few years…..and too pricey…..they should split it over a weekend, limit tickets, let 2000 come each evening…..whatever….but its ripe for improvement…….camana bay isnt even a good place to have it….now they jus thave it on one long road there….you can do that anywhere…..it was good when it was spread all over…now its one long, way too crowded street….
as to the standards of restaurants in cayman…all you have to do is think how often you've seen a server of chef coming in or out of a public bathroom to let you know how low the standards are being enforced in cayman…..you're also dealing with a location that has the cast majority of food served brought in frozen/de-frosted/often frozen again…..and yes i agree with another poster, there are a worrying high ongoing #'s of food poisoning all year long……perhaps the Restaurant Licencing people need to enforce standards, perhaps increase visitation, etc, etc
nobody sets out to make someone sick….but its very easy to happen if the professionals are not as professional as they could be
From what I've heard (take this with a grain of salt) it is more cases than the 15 reported from yesterday morning. There are people who became sick but didn't go to the hospital. That being said, I also attended TOC and I'm fine; I really enjoyed the food I did try. I think an event of that size runs with a little risk given the mass production. Perhaps there will be tighter restrictions and restaurants will be more conscience at future TOC from this experience.
How can it be determined officially if it was indeed food poisoning or not something like Norwalk virus which could be spread easily in large groups of people?
Norwalk and other gastros are very common and not neccessarly spread through contaminated food.
The incubation period for norovirus is at least 24 hours.
This sounds too quick.
Quite agree. Several people have had these symptoms that weekend and since then, have not eaten in any restaurant and did not go to TOC. Could be a virus going around.
a few hours after eating 3 people with us became extremely ill at the exact same time. There is a clear difference. Trust me, if you didn't have it, it may be easier not to make suggestions and just read!
Well this is certainly a shame. Definately for the people who put their trust in the organzers of this event to ensure safety, and also for the reputation of every restaurant that spent the time, effort and money to represent at this event.
I was standing in front of one booth and thought what, if any instructions relative to food safety were issued to the operators. Judging by the massive containors being used, and the lack of refridgeration at one stand… None.
Im sorry but food poison can kill. I want to know what health regulations are dictated to the vendors if any. Where is the health board? I dont care what the percentage is, no matter how small, if someone had died..then there would be some hell to pay
Very disappointed by the event.
Badly organised. We didn’t get our complementary wine, there was no forks/sporks so you had to eat with your hands, didn’t get the voting coin and there was way too many people to the point we could hardly walk. We arrived there at about 18:30 and there was a staff shouting at a long waiting line to herd them like cattles inside. Some stalls ran out of food. The list goes on.
For 35$, it’s not worth it.
Next year, please limit the tickets sale and hire proper organisers.
To Frank – Food safety is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly. Only 14 people were hospitalized but there are quite a few of us that got sick and did not go to the hosptial. I am pregnant and got very ill after the Taste of Cayman. I was not sick from overindulging. I was very ill most of the night and luckily my doctor confirmed the food poisioning would not affect the baby. I look forward to the HSA conducting a full review and identifying the source so everyone can learn and ensure it does not happen again. Glad you didn't get sick but the issue still needs to be investigated. Overall the Taste of Cayman was a great event but again there are lessons to be learned.
You and your baby is very lucky that no harm came because of this. Food poisoning is serious and yes can kill.
Pregnant people should be more careful where they eat – fortunately you and the baby are ok – but it would be wise to use common sense and probably not eat from street vendors if you are pregnant.
Not exactly linked to Taste of Cayman but a good place to ask this question…
While I love local fish I have always been concerned that the fishermen in GT harbour clean their catch and leave it in the hot sun for extended periods rather than putting it on ice. has the Department of Health ever reveiwed this practice? I know it is not politically correct to ask people who have been doing things one way for a long time to change but is in most 1st world countries there are rules that fish being sold has to be maintained at a certain temperature.
U think they been doing this for 1 week?
And what country are you from — this magical place that doesn't have outdoor fish markets??
The only ting might make u sick from the local fisherman is some bad barra…
Oh BO BO you very very brave picking on the local GT fishermen. I would suggest you do not identify yourself. This has been going on for a liftefime in the caribbean and in this location for over 40 years. Very very brave my dear. I suggest if you are so concerned you just go to the local supermarket and buy your fish but for me and mine and other locals we will buy in GT on the waterfront.
I don't think the poster was picking on anyone. He or she simply pointed out a concern. If the fishermen working at the market would like to sell more fish, they would be wise to respond to such concerns — this poster is an example of a customer lost. Of course, if they choose to limit themselves to that part of the population who has no such concerns, it is entirely within their rights to do so. It may be that they take every precaution with food safety and if so, this is an opportunity to say so.
Attn: People who enjoy fish
Fish left to die by asphyxiation are stressed and this leaves a lactic acid buildup in the meat. If they are left to flip and struggle in the bottom of the boat, the fish meat can actually become bruised from these death throes. Fish out of water cannot cool themselves and overheat quickly. Bacteria in the flesh, gills, gullet and stomache multiply at a rate about 5 times that of a freshly killed land animal. As more fish are added in a heap, the fish at the bottom rapidly spoil from the collective ambient heat buildup and can actually start to cook.
To safeguard quality, and to reduce animal stress it is recommended that fishermen bleed fish "IkiJime" immediately after catch by severing the arterial blood vessel behind the gills, and cool the flesh at low temperature in an ice slury to maintain "sashimi grade".
For anyone that doubts the more serious health risks, Google the following partial list and learn about serious micro-organism and parasitic risks:
MICRO-ORGANISMS: Pseudomonas (Alteronomas) putrifaciens, Moraxella, Aceinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Aerobacter, Lactobacillus, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus.
PARASITES: Anisakiasis, Chlonorchiasis, Diphyllobthrium, Echinostoma echinatum, Metagonimus yokogawai, and Paragonimus westermani.
Read this and then decide if you want to eat fish that has not seen ice.
Very informative, wish we had more scientific observations like this.
Do you watch them come in with their catch? They most certainly DO put their fish in various size coolers and on ice. My husband is one of those fishermen down by the bay. And you state that they leave the fish for extended periods out in the hot sun. Do you ever go down there and buy fish? Do you see the lines of people waiting to buy? Any one fish most certainly is NOT out in the hot sun for an extended period. Why dont you stand down there for 2 hours one morning, any morning, and see how fast that fish sells and that the fishermen take fish out of coolersto clean and sell to the public.
It wasn't me BO BO!
Ticket to enter (etrance only, no car raffle any more…)… $45
More food and drink tickets… $50
Dinner with 5000 hot, sweaty people followed by an evening at A&E with cramping… Priceless…
Please add to that the fact that they were so well organized that I bought a ticket as a person who have being attending the event for the 22nd time and part of the deal includes a wine glassand a pour of wine along with a bamboo spoof which I never received and was told that they were finish. Now that is an event is well organized. I still have the part of my ticket to prove my point.
Hahahahaha!! And I heard one of the ticket sellers say it was non-profit!! HAHAHAHAHAHAA!!! My AR$E!
After 3-4? years at Caymana Bay and this is the best organization they can come up with. Running out of drink tickets and food tickets. Hide the raffle box. etc. THey need to limit the amount of tickets sold if this is the best they can do.
PS. It didn't come from Agua and their fabulous conch ceviche! I had plenty.
Thanking my lucky stars I did not attend taste of Cayman. In fact, we avoid dining out at all costs here in Cayman.Every week I hear of someone coming down with food born illness from dining out on the island, on a weekend evening.
What a ridiculous statement.
Every weekend…?"
"Food Poisoning" = politically correct for "hangover".
this doesnt even make sense. get a life
Really, you avoid eating out because you are afraid of food poisoning? Do you really hear of people getting sick from eating at local restaurants every week? Do you work at the hospital?
I in the other hand have been here for over 25 years, eating out at least twice a month may be even more, never had a problem. Perhaps you have a weak stomach, or need to be more careful with your diet. But by the tone of your message you would think that the food industry here are all a bunch of improvised restaurantiers. I think in every country you have people that don't care and don't follow the many rules that are there to protect the consumer. You just do not hear as much as you would in this small comunity. In any case, I would encourage you to take a risk once in a while and have a meal in one of our many restaurants. May be you will discover is not as bad as you think.
You sit at home then and eat your own cooked food – you sound like a proper misery guts anyway. Don't think many people would want you in their company – All doom and gloom…. sad person !!
Would rather be happy and eat good food, alone or with a couple of friends, then hang around a bunch of sick gluttons slowly degenerating.
"Food born?
Ohh… food BORNE!
Try not to give them a wide birth 🙂
…its a small island..and it doesn't take much to give somebody justification for spitting in
your food unbeknowest….especially if you slighted them in the past…sick.
Ok…this is just ridiculous. I was at Taste of Cayman and had many friends that had booths set up there. From the looks of things it was a huge succes. But still the nature of publicity is to promote the bad rather than the good. 15 from 4500 people means that roughly 0.003% of people 'may' have contracted food poisening. If this really news? Also not counting the fact that a few of these people may have just over-indulged in food or alcohol resulting is getting sick. Glady the people recovered and are completely fine now. In saying that it would have been nice to have seen a good story and comments from the other 4485 who went there and throughly enjoyed a well planned and overall successful event!!
(BTW: The Karma slider won the food contest hands down!!) and i was fine so that deletes one from you 'food poisening' investigation.
I don't believe this is ridiculous at all. There were 15 REPORTED cases which means the number of unreported cases is unknown. Hygiene standards are designed so that ZERO people suffer, therefore it is right and just to investigate.
Frank – First, you need a maths lesson. Second, 15 people were treated in hospital, many many other people were sick and did not got to hospital. I was extremely sick for 6 hours on Saturday night as were the 3 other people in my house who attended Taste of Cayman, but we did not got to hospital. A food festival that results in something close to 1% attendees getting food poisoning is news.
And I have a 1 in 9.2million chance of dying in a plane crash, but i still want the folks in charge to at least try to ensure my safety.
be glad you didn't have it- it was the worst night of our lives!
I didn't drink… it was definitely food poisoning. You must think for every person that goes to hospital, there are a dozen who tough it out at home. I would consider poisoning 5% of your clientelle to be a failure.
Furthermore, it's hard to see how you would consider it to be a success given the long lines and gong show you experienced at the entrance. Was definately a better event in prior years.
hope you get it next time!!!
although I agree with your sentiment it is in fact 0.33%…
I know personally of 7 people who got sick, none of whom went to the hospital. There were also later reports of 50+ that showed up at the hospital.
Irregardless, it wasn't serious and I don't think it detracted from the enormous success of the event. But if there's a restaurant that isn't complying with general safety standards, the public has the right to know. Now, it's not reallyfair to put an enormous blame on the restaurant (assuming it was food and from one restaurant) as sometimes things happen. And with the amount of food served this increases the liklihood, but if there's a new restaurant or chef, for example, who isn't taking a few precautionary steps to decrease this liklihood, the staff will need to consider a few changes.
I'm sorry.. but to diminish someone's sickness by saying they were a small percentage is just plain rude. At an event meant to showcase the high quality food we have on the island there shouldn't be a small percentage getting sick there should be ZERO.
It was such a good event and I am sorry about the food poison. There was a roast pig that had his stuffings placed between two buns and served. While the presentation of the pig looked good I was very turned off that the Server was stuffing the pig with his bare fingers and did not used a glove.
*.07. Hummm—- Some times the gloves are more dirty than their bare hands. Because at least when their hands get messy enough they will wash them. But unless the gloves tear off they never change them. I've been to places where I saw people take their goves and wipe down tables and serve you same time. I just walked away.
I ate three sliders from the pig stall and I've been fine so it wasn't there.
A few stalls has things like ceviche being left out unchilled! I think that's more than likely to be the cause of it.
Nope. No way. I had several servings of the conch ceviche and it was DELISH!!!
Guess I had your share
Oh dear! Most of the Camana Bay restaurants are rubbish anyway. Every time I heve been they got something wrong – the wrong meal or unbelievably slow service and a couple of times even forgot at least one person's foodon our table – and they still added service charges to the bills! (needless to say I refused to pay service charges). I was already giving the restaurants a wide birth, but certainly won't bother going back now. Useless.
You obviously do not have a clue what TOC is all about! If you did then you would know that this was not an exclusive Caymana Bay reataurants only event. Get a life and stick to your negative post else where.
TOC has grown to be one of the best attended events island wide and the organizers have done a tremendous job year after year.
…Perhaps you should try giving them a wide "bearth" instead.
oops = Wide berth!
my momma gave me a wide birth and to this day I haven't gotten over it
She probably hasn't either!
Umm…the correct spelling is "berth".
It is actually berth….
Is it difficult to walk after giving a restaurant a wide birth? Sounds painful
i'm amazed this news got out……i would of expected this to have beeen swept under the carpet…..
…would *have* expected.
I'm sorry to be pedantic. I just hate it when my students pick up errors like this one through repeated exposure.
CNS – I know you won't publish this and I know it would be hard to confirm the source of this food sickness but there is one certainty. There is no question that the kitchens of our restaurants are more and more being manned by persons who originate from places which are not particularly known for food hygiene. Might there be a connection?
To my knowledge this is the 23rd or 24th year of ToC and the first publicized case of food sickness. Considering the volume of food prepared and served over that time, that is commendable, but is the cheap labour utilized by our restaurants really worth risking the public's health?
The Department of Environment really needs to do proper inspections of all restaurants and not the cursory "look-over" that is done just to fulfil an administrative responsibility and coddle restaurant operators.
If you had ever taken the time to speak to someone who works in a kitchen here you would find that the VAST majority originate from a place with extremly high standards for food safety. The Cruise Ship Industry.
A proper assessment of all restaurants is conducted. However some of the owners are big investors and….the law does not facilitate for a real threat such as closure of the restaurant. If it does THAT has never happened!!!!
I neva yet got food poisoning in my gramma kitchen!
(Does bad barra count?)
The DoE doesn't inspect kitchens. Get your facts straight before you go writing things on a blog and look like a dummy.
07;28, then what the hell do you people do except run the dog truck and catch dogs? I really thought you checked restaurants too
CNS: Some people get confused between the Department of Environment and the Department of Environmental Health. It is the latter that is responsible for inspection of kitchens, etc. I believe this is the point the previous commenter was making.
A lot of people get them mixed up. I used to get them mixed up as well.