Melbourne Cup; Not Just About Horses

Yesterday was the Melbourne Cup – the most anticipated horse race day for all Australians. But in truth, there are many more things going on besides the horse race and the crazy fascinators adorned by women. As many can you two years ago, the experience of Melbourne Cup leaves them feeling weary.

2013 marked one of the largest food poisoning case on Melbourne Cup Day. In Brisbane, a function hosting the race that stops our nation caused at least 220 people to fall victim to the food pathogen salmonella – it caused the death of one. The case was caused by a raw egg-based dish served by Piccalilli Catering.

Experts believe that the salmonella was caused after the eggs arrived at the business and believe that poor cleaning and sanitising of the stick blender was the ultimate cause. They also found that the business has poor food safety practices where they found that their poor hand washing process leads to E. coli’s presence in the kitchen. This small step missed by the catering caused many people unease and the death of someone.

It is easy to forget food safety when you get caught in the moment of a big event or if you are catering for a massive crowd for such a big function. Do you need to put food safety in the forefront of your mind when eating at events such as these? And as a caterer, do you need to be more careful with the ingredients you use in your meals?

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