DoEH investigates fast food roach report

| 31/01/2012

Roach%20Cartoon_full.jpg(CNS): In the wake of news of food poisoning at this year’s Taste of Cayman event, the Department of Environmental Health has confirmed a report yesterday of a cockroach in a burger at a fast food restaurant on Seven Mile Beach. A CNS reader reported that the insect was found in a local teenager’s lunchon Monday.  The DEH director confirmed that the office received the report of a customer complaint today around 2:45pm concerning “a young man who had allegedly consumed a foreign matter (roach) in a burger.” Roydell Carter stated that the matter is currently under investigation to gather evidence and determine if the complaint is substantiated.

“Where necessary, the DEH will enforce relevant actions to ensure that corrective steps are implemented because food safety and hygiene are of paramount importance to everyone. The customer will be notified of the outcome of the investigation,” said Carter.

A relative of the teen told CNS that he was treated on the George Town hospital and prescribed medication after the unappetizing incident. They also confirmed that the restaurant staff were apologetic and gave the teen his cash back.

Meanwhile, public health officials are still gathering data from those that were affected by the food poisoning at the Cayman Islands Tourism Association’s major annual food festival and trying to trace the source of the bug which caused the problem. On Monday evening Dr Kiran Kumar reported that a common thread was beginning to emerge from the reported cases which the team could investigate.

People who were affected but not treated at the hospital are asked to contact officials to assist with the investigation.

Please contact the Health Department's Surveillance Officer  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.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Emmmm… Emmm…. yummy – there lettuce is always so fresh and crunchy : P

  2. Anonymous says:

    C'mon. I'm a teen and I often go to fast food restaurants with friends. At various fast food restaurants, I've watch countless workers layer up a burger/sandwich. The bun, mayonnaise, veggies, burger pattie whatnot… I'm pretty sure I'd know how to prepare their burgers after seeing how they make it for so long lol. Then, they tightly wrap it to sit for a short period of time on a heated area or on most occasions serve them right away. You're telling me a roach would not be seen when layering up a burger? Or will it just crawl onto the hot belt and tuck itself neatly inside the tightly wrapped burger. It makes no sense. To be honest, I've watch Tower Heist and saw how Eddie put a roach on his food, what an idea, eh?

  3. Anonymous says:

    I was once told by a teacher that  these restaurants once inspected by the DEH have to put up "this paper"that would tell the public what kind of grade they got on their restaurant BUT they don't have to put it up for plain view.

    It can be up on a wall but behing other papers, so we as customers dont know what the DEH had to say about their restuarant. I agree with 18:07 comment, the should be inspected randomly and more often. This is cayman somebody bound to tip of a friend of a friend that they are coming,

    Whether is true of not, more attention to be paid to situations like these. Even in the supermarket we see such things! You pick something up that is either expired, or you buy some grapes or strawberries and way down in the middle is some rotten fruit. Vendors are only about making money, especially in these hard times.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Ironically, there are already hapless roaches in the finest commerically produced patties, weiners, and nuggets.  Many of us eat them everyday and never know.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Don't know about roaches but I once found something that looked like drops of black gunk ( like used motor oil) on the lettuce of my salad from one of the fast food restaurants..  Maybe it was black soil and the leaves just hadn't been washed properly?  I knew better than to take it back; figured  they would say I had somehow put it there……….

    Undoubtedly, more needs to be done around here when it comes to food hygiene.  I visited a restaurant in Savannah recently and watched one of the male workers there handling the cash register and continuously turning around and serving up fries without washing his hands or putting on gloves.  It is impossible to get the fries into that little cardboard container without those hanging over the top touching your fingers.  I know that a lot of these places have cameras and would suggest to management that they occassionally review the footage to see what is going on.

    One of the Miami stations has a program called "Dirty Dining" where they report on establishments with health violations and you can even visit their website to see which restaurants you need to avoid.  I have often wondered why the Cayman public is not provided similar information by DEH who are charged with protecting the public's health.

  6. Anonymous says:

    You remember that time with the Mayonnaise 😉  

    On another note DEH only inspects once a year in most cases. WHY not spot checks on cleanliness of business overall and most important the persons in kitchen handling the food. You see cayman is finally and has been getting into the progress and future and things need to be reviewed as times gone by …well have gone. Start raising the bar government MLA and earn your pay.

  7. Anonymous says:

    "consumed a foreign matter (roach) in " – I must take exception to the Director's comments regarding the nationality of the roach, and would like to confirm that the roach in question IS IN FACT a LOCAL roach!!

     

    I know because I applied for the job the roach was hired for and wasturned down by the company, saying that a "more suitably, qualified Caymanian" had been hired.

     

    The Director should be more careful in his statements, particularly on nationality of Cayman's inhabitants. we all live and work into these beautiful Cayman Islands and all depend on one another to survive.

     

    This was not an expat roach!

    • Anonymous says:

      Theexpat roach was already on the job on a temporary work permit and wrote the qualification requirements for the ad so that no local roach would qualify.  

  8. anonymous says:

    Oh you thought that was mayonaise too?

  9. Anonymous says:

    Yuh wann flies wit dat burger?

  10. Swine says:

    Pche..dont werry bout dat bobo, dat nah nutt'n! won lil roach u werry bout? chhh, wa dont kill ya make ya fatta bobo! daz jes a lil proteen an a lil extra ruffage! all awus needs dat now a days! boy go hoom n stop cumpleenin!!!

  11. Jay says:

    Which means the roach was in the process of metabolism by now, his juices being extracted from his tiny body, and assimulated into the boys digestive tissues.  You could hear the crunching as the boy swallow it into the abyss. And I could picture the whip cream effects, oozing out of the poor thing, twirling around and around. So sorry for Mr. roach.

  12. Me says:

    Perhaps this teenager has been watching too many movies and was after a free lunch….

  13. Knot S Smart says:

    So nobody here likes sauteed roach in sweet and sour sauce?

  14. Anonymous says:

    Fast Food = faster to death.  Those Fast Foods restaurants are what is spreading these sicknesses, like diabetes, cancers and heart conditions fast in Cayman.  Go home and cook your own burgers and chicken sandwiches.  But potatoes and make your own home made fries.

  15. Anonymous says:

    "Allegedly" is correct I would bet. This ploy has been tried repeatedly in the US.

  16. Cheese Face says:

    mmmmmmmmmmmm roach burger

  17. Anonymous says:

    Unfortunately it sounds like an attempt to claim some compensation. You obviously wouldn't need to go to hopsital for this.

     

  18. Anonymous says:

    I think a Jamaican dictionary is more appropriate!!!!

  19. Anonymous says:

    Gross.

  20. Anonymous says:

    no wonder my burgers are sometime crunchy

  21. COCKROACH says:

    Una just cant hear stop eating da fass food out a una yard.  Cook una dinna home.

    Then again a wonda if it true, cause some people gaw dis style from foreign to say cockroach in a dey food, when notin go so.

    Mei nauh going eat dem thing saw.  Hamburger? No saw, Mi prefer me steam fish wid dumplin an cracker, wid lill ocra and rice and bean.  Tell me wha betta dan dat ye waan.

    Burger??  Yuck.

    • Anonymous says:

      I think it's time I invested in the Cayman Dictionary!!

      • Anonymous says:

        you have been beaten to the punch, a West Bay Dictionary has been out for years.