Authorities in Gia Lai Province have identified Salmonella spp as the cause of a food poisoning outbreak that sent more than 250 people to hospital after they ate banh mi purchased from the Bin Bin shop in An Khe Ward.
The Bin Bin banh mi shop in An Khe Ward (Photo: Gia Han).
On September 7, the Gia Lai Department of Health said laboratory testing of food samples collected from the business found Salmonella spp in pate, dried chicken and fried fish cake.
The department said health officials collected 11 retained food ingredient samples from the establishment, including pate, pork floss, dried chicken, braised pork, pork pie, cold cuts, fried fish cake, egg-butter sauce, cucumber, herbs, pickled vegetables and ground chilli.
The samples were sent to the Gia Lai Centre for Disease Control for testing. Meanwhile, the An Khe Medical Centre collected clinical specimens from patients involved in the suspected poisoning incident and transferred them to the Tay Nguyen Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for analysis.
Test results showed that three food samples, pate, dried chicken and fried fish cake, were positive for Salmonella spp.
According to the Gia Lai Department of Health, Salmonella spp commonly causes acute gastrointestinal illness, with symptoms including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, nausea and vomiting.
Based on laboratory findings, patient specimens and clinical symptoms, health authorities concluded that the incident was a food poisoning outbreak caused by Salmonella spp contamination in food products sold by the Bin Bin shop.
Patients suffering from food poisoning after eating banh mi bought from the Bin Bin shop (Photo: Nhu Nguyen).
On the evening of August 23, numerous people who had eaten banh mi purchased from the Bin Bin outlet were admitted to An Khe Medical Centre for treatment. More than 250 patients were hospitalised, including the father and son who own the business.
