Investigating the Food Poisoning Outbreak at the Hilton Brisbane Hotel

This report examines a food poisoning outbreak at the Hilton Brisbane hotel, where over 50 guests at a wedding reception suffered from gastrointestinal illness, primarily caused by norovirus. The investigation revealed that the virus likely spread through personal contact, potentially from guests who had attended other events. The report highlights the importance of hygiene, including handwashing facilities and proper food handling, to prevent future outbreaks. Recommendations include routine food and beverage checks, a food safety supervisor, staff training, temperature control for food storage, proper disposal of contaminated food, and sanitation of equipment. The report emphasizes the need for improved hygiene practices by both guests and staff to mitigate the risk of foodborne illnesses and maintain public health.

FOOD POISONING
Presented by
Student affiliation
Supervisor
Food Poisoning
At
The Hilton Brisbane

Over 50 visitors attending a wedding reception at the Hilton Brisbane suffered from food
poisoning. The guests had cases of diarrhea and vomiting and thus needed fast medical
attention. This was a biological food contamination that resulted from a virus known as the
norovirus. The virus also known as the winter vomiting bug causes Gastroententeritis with
patients experiencing diarrhea, stomach pain and vomiting Brisbane(2018).
Queensland Health, a public health unit, performed a number of investigations on the
hotel kitchen and found that it was in a quite good condition. The virus is spread from one
person to another through personal contact or through eating contaminated food. The guests
attending the reception may have come with the virus as they had attended other occasions
before coming to the hotel Pardo(2016). According to Mr. Partridge, Hilton Hotel Brisbane
manager, this can be taken as the main cause of the illness as the hotel had other visitors during
that weekend and nobody had reported any sign or symptom of having the Gastroententeritis
virus.
From the investigations carried out, it is quite clear that the illness was mainly caused by
failure in ensuring good personal hygiene. This is on the side of the guests as the hotel ensures
good hygiene is maintained by all the staff members when preparing or serving the food.
Personal hygiene is of great importance when it comes to handling food and beverage intended
for consumption by any person since it prevents illness Miles(2016).
. The norovirus that caused the virus was spread from one person to another through
personal contact. It is thus important for people eating or people handling food and beverage
consumed by other people to ensure proper hygiene in order to prevent diseasesEddie(2016). To
prevent this from happening in the future, Hilton hotel should ensure that:
 Hand washing facilities such as soap, running hot water and paper towels is supplied to
all the guests and staff in the hotel. They should also encourage everyone to use these
facilities before coming into contact with any type of food or beverage.
 Routine checking of the food and beverage should be done and the hotel should employ a
Food Safety Supervisor who will monitor this. All the food handling and service staff
should also be offered training thus be able to acquire knowledge of food and equipment
hygiene and safety.
 The hotel should also ensure that any hot or cold food is stored at the required
temperature with accurate food temperature measuring devices. Any contaminated food
should also be disposed of properly as the norovirus can stay for up to 12 days on any
contaminated surface or food. Areas where cleaning of the utensils and equipments is
done should be large enough and cleanWard(2011). Sanitizers should be used to clean the
equipment to prevent any bacteria or virus from surviving.
 In preventing the virus, the hotel should ensure that all the raw and cooked food is
separated when stored. The storage should suite the type of food stored thus preventing
the viruses or bacteria from contaminating them.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY. IT’’S THE
ONLY PLACE YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN

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