The number of people affected by a salmonella outbreak at the five-star Langham Hotel in Melbourne continues to rise.
Currently, 44 diners who visited The Langham Melbourne’s Aria Bar and Lounge over the weekend of July 11-12 have become ill.
The Health Department is currently aware of 66 guests that attended “The Chocolate Bar Afternoon Tea”.
Bram Alexander, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that 15 of the 44 are confirmed Salmonella cases.
“We know six people have received hospital care, four admitted and two seen in the Emergency Department,” he said.
“It may take some time before the source can be established because some foods have more than one ingredient and further detailed tests may be required.”
The DHHS attributes an increasing proportion of recent salmonella outbreaks to foods containing raw or lightly cooked eggs.
The surge in popularity of mobile food vendors, such as food trucks, has complicated food handling and storage.
All businesses that sell food are required to comply with standards set by the Food Act of 1984, to ensure product is safe for consumers.
Food trucks have to adhere to the standards set by the act to create a safe mobile environment for food service.
Under that act, temporary and mobile food premises are required to notify the local councils they plan to visit of their location.
The popularity of mobile vendors in Melbourne recently has resulted in events such as the Melbourne Night Noodle Market and the Coburg Food Truck Festival.
Gabriella Rivett, a Truck Manager at Mr Burger, works from a popular food truck that travels around Melbourne serving burgers and fries.
“It’s certainly more complicated keeping fresh food in a truck, mostly because there is very limited storage,” Miss Rivett said.
The company stores food in a Coburg warehouse in either cool rooms or industrial freezers until it is ready to be distributed to trucks.
Use-by dates are regulated by a “company wide standard sticker system coded by colours for the day it has come to the warehouse.”
Once assigned a truck, food product is placed in large fridges in the rear, which Miss Rivett says are always on and between zero and four degrees.
The only time the fridge is unable to be powered is when the trucks are moving between service locations.
Mr Burger ensures trucks don’t travel for longer than half an hour, so fridges’ residual temperature can keep product sufficiently cold.
