Hong Kong’s Excelsior hotel stops serving raw oysters after six diners get suspected food poisoning
Centre for Food Safety has also banned import and sale of oysters from same area
The Excelsior has taken oysters off the menu due to several diners falling sick at the luxury hotel’s rooftop restaurant last week.
The Centre for Food Safety is investigating after at least six diners who ate imported Penn Cove oysters at the Causeway Bay hotel’s Tott’s and Roof Terrace restaurant on February 23 showed symptoms of food poisoning.
The CFS has also banned the import and sale of raw oysters from the same area.
READ MORE: Highly prized ‘caterpillar fungus’ declared a danger to health by China’s food and drug administration
A spokesman said the CFS had linked a case of food poisoning to the consumption of raw oysters.
“The stool specimen of one of the affected persons tested positive for norovirus upon laboratory testing,” the statement said.
“For the sake of prudence, the CFS has immediately banned the import into and sale within Hong Kong of all raw oysters harvested from the area,” it added.
The ban will affect Tott’s and Roof Terrace and one other restaurant that obtained the same rogue oysters. According to food safety inspectors, no remaining stock from the affected batch was found on their premises.
A spokeswoman for the Excelsior said: “As soon as we knew of these cases, we stopped all the supply of oysters throughout the hotel.”
“We will ensure we maintain our due diligence and, keeping the high standards of our food supplies, maintain very high hygiene standards. We’ll continue to select the best possible suppliers,” she added.
