It did not go exactly according to plan when the canteen at the main police station in Roskilde was to serve chili stew on Wednesday 13 October last year.
It writes the Danish regional newspaperSjællandske Nyheter, which refers to a decision taken by the Danish Food Safety Authority, which corresponds to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
Confusion
On this particular day, food was not only to be served to hungry police officers – later in the evening, a family party consisting of 32 people was also to have food.
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Therefore, an extra large portion of chili con carne was made. According to the Danish Food Safety Authority, this was cooked late in the morning.
At 11 o’clock, about ten liters were taken away, and distributed into four gastro trays (large square shape to prepare food in, journ.anm.), So that there would be enough food for the company in the evening.
The four trays were placed in the cold room until the canteen closed. Then the contents of the four slopes were gathered in one large to be heated.
But here began the confusion, according to the Danish Food Safety Authority, which has interviewed employees to get to the bottom of the incident.
Stood in cold oven
One employee, who does not work in the kitchen, says that he was instructed to take out the ground and put it in an oven that was pre-programmed to 180 degrees for 40 minutes.
Another says that the pot was in reality not put in until 15.30, and then no one turned on the stove.
This kitchen worker thought that the company would start at 4 pm, and that the former would come and turn on the oven shortly.
Thus, the pot was left in the cold oven, and the food was far from hot enough when it was to be served to the 32 guests who arrived at 18 o’clock.
As is well known, bacteria can thrive if hot food is not served at the right temperatures. Many who ate the chili stew were affected by stomach pain, according to the smiley face report.
16 guests became ill
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has succeeded in obtaining 16 of the 32 guests who ate the dish this evening.
– All of these had abdominal pain, they conclude.
When food is cooled and heated, the chef is required to register the temperatures of the food.
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– During the audit, the kitchen manager states that it is not measured at each cooling down, but that it is measured once a week, the audit states.
They further write that the information they have received about incubation time, symptoms and duration is in accordance with spore-forming bacteria.
Such bacteria can cause foodborne illness when heat-treated foods are exposed to breaks in the cooling chain for a long enough time and temperature conditions that are favorable for bacterial growth, the audit explains.
20,000 i bot
As a result of the outbreak of the disease, the canteen has been fined 20,000 kroner, and has lost the “smiley face” in the Danish The Smiley scheme.
The canteen operations are handled by the company Coor, which itself reported the incident. They are aware that Dagbladet covers the case.
– We naturally apologize for the inconvenience this has caused for the affected guests, writes Helle Hvidt Wallentin, who is communications manager at Coor Denmark, in an e-mail to Dagbladet.
She continues:
– The cause must be found in a human error in communication, which we have naturally followed up. We contacted the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration ourselves as part of our standard procedure.