Coronavirus: Hong Kong caterer who supplied Penny’s Bay quarantine facility could face prosecution over allegedly tainted food

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department says it found unclean food and items stored at improper temperatures during a check of Danny Catering Service’s facility

It also says it confirmed one food sample to be contaminated with bacteria known to cause food poisoning

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A catering company could face legal action over cases of suspected food poisoning at the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:56pm, 13 May 2021Updated: 10:01pm, 13 May 2021

A Hong Kong caterer who supplied a government quarantine facility could face prosecution after health authorities confirmed a sample of one of their meals was tainted with bacteria following multiple complaints of food poisoning from people who had been isolated there.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department told the Post on Thursday that it was considering pursuing legal action against Danny Catering Service Ltd – which provided food for the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island – over its allegedly poor food hygiene standards.

Staff from the department found unclean food and items stored at improper temperatures when they inspected the company’s production facility on May 7. The person in charge of the plant had corrected the problems by May 10, a department spokesman added.

Laboratory tests, meanwhile, found one food sample was contaminated with Bacillus cereus, which could cause food poisoning, vomiting and diarrhoea.

After some 2,300 people were evacuated from their homes over fears of an outbreak of a more infectious coronavirus variant earlier this month, irate quarantined residents began posting pictures of the unappetising meals supplied at the camps along with complaints that the food had made them feel unwell.

Images purporting to show the meals supplied at the facility featured greyish meat patties studded with yellow corn kernels and mouldy oranges for dessert.

Quarantined residents soon began sharing photos of the food being served at Penny’s Bay. Photo: Handout

A Department of Health spokesman said on Thursday that the catering service was no longer the food contractor at Penny’s Bay.