An award-winning Japanese restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui was ordered to close yesterday because 13 people had suffered food poisoning after eating there.
The patrons, all adults, grew nauseous, vomited and developed abdominal pain three to 12 hours after eating sashimi and oysters in Todai, in the Miramar Shopping Centre, on August 7, Sunday and Wednesday. None required hospital treatment.
An investigation by the Centre for Health Protection suggested that bacterial contamination was the likely cause of the outbreaks at the Japanese sushi and seafood buffet diner.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said it had ordered the restaurant to close. Its inspectors destroyed 1,200kg of food and took away food and environmental samples for tests.
'As the food poisoning outbreak shows signs of continuation, there is epidemiological ground to support the temporary closure of the food premises for disinfection,' a spokesman said.
The department also said the restaurant's hygiene environment was satisfactory and that it would not be prosecuted.
