Swedish McDonald's shut after spate of illness
A McDonald's restaurant in Nödinge, in Ale municipality in Västra Götaland, has been forced to close, after 30 cases of severe illness were reported to the authorities.
Carita Sandro, Head of Environment at Ale municipality, said that there had been more than two dozen complaints of illness occurring after visits to the restaurant.
“We received several reports of gastroenteritis and diarrhea. Many of them were really bad and we quickly realised that it was because the sufferers had eaten at McDonalds in Nödinge. We contacted the restaurant and they chose to close the restaurant while they investigated the issue.”
“The only thing we could do was to close,” Jörgen Hansson, the restaurant's owner added in an interview with Swedish newspaper, Expressen.
One McDonald’s customer told Expressen: “I was there on Monday and ate a Chicken McWrap. Several people in my area have been affected, and they ate different things. I have had vomiting, dizziness, diarrhoea and fever - I was sick for twelve hours.”
It’s the second time this summer that the restaurant has had problems. In July six people became ill after eating Grand Big Macs. An investigation concluded that that outbreak was caused by poor staff hygiene.
On the latest occasion there it is thought that the outbreak of illness was caused by a staff member unwittingly carrying a winter vomiting virus.
“There is a suspicion that one or some of our staff who worked on Monday evening are carriers of the winter vomiting virus. Yesterday morning we took samples from all of our staff. The earliest we’ll get answers will be on Monday,” Hansson said.
“It's really, really, really unfortunate. We have clear guidelines on how to behave when you are sick - you should not come to work. There are no weaknesses in our procedures. It is probably someone who is sick without knowing it.”
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Carita Sandro, Head of Environment at Ale municipality, said that there had been more than two dozen complaints of illness occurring after visits to the restaurant.
“We received several reports of gastroenteritis and diarrhea. Many of them were really bad and we quickly realised that it was because the sufferers had eaten at McDonalds in Nödinge. We contacted the restaurant and they chose to close the restaurant while they investigated the issue.”
“The only thing we could do was to close,” Jörgen Hansson, the restaurant's owner added in an interview with Swedish newspaper, Expressen.
One McDonald’s customer told Expressen: “I was there on Monday and ate a Chicken McWrap. Several people in my area have been affected, and they ate different things. I have had vomiting, dizziness, diarrhoea and fever - I was sick for twelve hours.”
It’s the second time this summer that the restaurant has had problems. In July six people became ill after eating Grand Big Macs. An investigation concluded that that outbreak was caused by poor staff hygiene.
On the latest occasion there it is thought that the outbreak of illness was caused by a staff member unwittingly carrying a winter vomiting virus.
“There is a suspicion that one or some of our staff who worked on Monday evening are carriers of the winter vomiting virus. Yesterday morning we took samples from all of our staff. The earliest we’ll get answers will be on Monday,” Hansson said.
“It's really, really, really unfortunate. We have clear guidelines on how to behave when you are sick - you should not come to work. There are no weaknesses in our procedures. It is probably someone who is sick without knowing it.”
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