Café owner fined £2,500 after salmonella outbreak

The owner of a sandwich bar at the centre of a salmonella outbreak that landed two people in hospital and left 15 others seriously ill has been fined £2,500.

Food safety officers found the potentially lethal bug on chopping boards, work surfaces, cleaning towels and the chef's cloth at the Chunnel Bar cafe in Lower Marsh.

They shut it immediately, deeming its kitchen to be a serious public health risk. The cafe fell under suspicion when a 32-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were admitted to St Thomas' Hospital with salmonella in October.

Cafe owner Patrick Goncalves pleaded guilty to eight charges under food safety regulations. Camberwell Green magistrates fined him £2,500 with £500 costs.

Alan Ward, Lambeth council's food safety officer, said: "This business failed to follow basic hygiene practices." The cafe reopened in November after MrGoncalves cleaned it up.