The Hamilton Ontario public health department is reviewing its handling of the Salmonella outbreak at Eat a Pita restaurant.
The health department found “critical violations” in a restaurant inspection on February 1, 2012, including chicken held at an unsafe temperature. A subsequent inspection on February 23 found the same problems.
But the restaurant wasn’t closed until an outbreak was announced on February 23, 2012. Four cases of Salmonella have been linked to the restaurant, and another 36 cases are being investigated.
An email between a medical officer of health and a ward councillor said that “a number of changes” were made to “increase consistency between inspectors.” They want to give facility owners an opportunity to comply when violations are found, but don’t want significant breaches of safety to continue.
