Dubai cook gets 3 months for food poisoning of guests, including 2 Pinays

A United Arab Emirates court this week sentenced a cook to three months in jail for endangering the lives of five guests—two of them Filipinas—at a recent dinner cruise, a UAE news site reported late Wednesday.

 

The five guests at a floating restaurant at Dubai Marina suffered from salmonella poisoning after being served a chocolate mousse that was infected by bacteria, Gulf News reported.

 

Sentenced was an Indian cook for allegedly failing to store the chocolate mousse in a hygienic place before it was contaminated.

 

Also, the Dubai Misdemeanors Court fined the cook Dh10,000 after convicting him of failing to carry out his duties properly and being liable for the women’s sickness.

 

The cook was sentenced in absentia, the report said.

 

Court records showed the five women included two Filipinas, a Syrian, an Egyptian, and an Indian.

 

Investigation showed the five were rushed to various hospitals due to abdominal cramps, high fever and persistent diarrhea, a few hours after the dinner.

 

Medical reports from the hospitals showed the victims had abdominal problems due to the infection.

 

On the other hand, the court acquitted the restaurant’s Mozambican manager and an Indian manager of the hotel that operated the restaurant.

 

Unfit for human consumption

 

The Dubai municipality inspector testified the chocolate mousse was unsuitable for human consumption because it was infected with salmonella.

 

According to the inspector, the cook used unpasteurized eggs to make the chocolate mousse.

 

One of the Filipina victims testified she went home after the dinner party but woke up at 5 a.m. the next day with a "severe stomach pain and diarrhea."

 

"When I visited the hospital, a medical check up confirmed that I had food poisoning and I was admitted for two nights. We had an open buffet and part of that was the chocolate mousse,” she said. —Joel Locsin/NB, GMA News