Food poisoning among the guests at a lunch organized in Verbania for the feast of San Sebastiano, patron saint of the local police. The symptoms were reported by 28 of the 35 guests, municipal police officers in service or retired, mayors and councilors of the municipalities of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Novarese, who had eaten at the canteen of Villa Olimpia, a social reality in which people detained in the city prison also work.
The investigation is being conducted by the Carabinieri. The cause of the disturbances, as reported by La Stampa, could be a laxative poured into the stew with mashed potatoes served to the guests at the table. On the outside windowsill of a service room of the restaurant, two half-empty bottles of the laxative were found. No other guests of the restaurant, except those sitting at the local police table, were found to have felt ill.
No problem in food preservation would have emerged from the inspection carried out by the NAS after the incident was reported. No disturbance even for those who did not consume the meat dish. "I am truly sorry for what happened - explains the commander of the local police of Verbania, Andrea Cabassa -. It was not a prank: you have to think before risking harming someone. At the table there were also frail people, advanced in age and with health problems ". In the next few days, Cabassa announces, some of the people who were ill will file a complaint.
"The Gattabuia restaurant wishes to express its deepest regret for the inconvenience experienced by the officers and their guests," reads a note from the Verbania restaurant. "If there were any responsibilities, we are committed to taking them on. We believe it is essential to underline that our structure has always been and continues to be strongly committed to guaranteeing a quality service, thanks to the professionalism and dedication of our staff."
"Following the incident - the note continues - we have fully collaborated with the competent authorities, in particular with the NAS, in order to clarify every aspect of the matter. The investigations carried out so far have not highlighted any correlation between the episode and the operating procedures of our restaurant. We immediately asked our supplier to verify the quality of all the raw materials used during the lunch in question", a supplier who "promptly started an internal verification procedure that is still ongoing". The incident, the note concludes, "at the moment we believe is not yet clear".
(Online Union)
