Restaurants served gas oven warning

Restaurant owners are being advised to have their gas ovens checked by specialists after diners at a restaurant in London were rushed to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and a number of Chinese duck ovens were banned from service because they were deemed unsafe.

Brazilian restaurant Preto, which opened in the borough of Westminster earlier this month, was forced to close last Friday after 13 diners were taken to hospital feeling unwell.

The restaurant’s managers closed the restaurant immediately and called in engineers to fix the problem, but Westminster council is using the case as a warning to restaurateurs to ensure all gas-powered equipment complies with safety.

“This is National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week so it seems timely for us to urge all restaurants to double check their gas equipment and ventilation systems to make sure they are working properly and prevent something like this happening again,” said Richard Block, operations manager for food, health and safety at Westminster City Council.

“I would also advise all businesses that use gas to install carbon monoxide detectors as an extra safeguard. They`re not expensive, but in any event are a small price to pay to potentially save lives."

Earlier this year the same council issued prohibition notices to five Chinese restaurants in the London borough after inspectors found a number of ovens they were using to cook Peking duck were not up to EU standards.

As the law stands, imported ovens can be used in the UK provided they have been modified for use here and are regularly serviced by a Corgi​ registered engineer, but the council recommends they are replaced by ovens with a CE mark “when they reach the end of their lives.”

Law firm Davenport Lyons​ has been representing the affected Chinese restaurants and warned the same restrictions could be extended to all equipment produced outside the EU, such as tandoori ovens or Korean table burners.

Alun Thomas, a partner in the leisure department, said: “This has been a very frustrating time for our clients, who have lost thousands of pounds a week in revenue, and now face more wasted time and money if the matter escalates.

“The fact is that there have been no reported problems with the ovens, and the law on the matter is clear. These ovens can be used and modified where they have been in domestic circulation before January 1 1996. After that date, appliances must have a CE mark.

“Unfortunately, this fight is not necessarily over. There remains the likelihood that similar issues will arise in London and elsewhere.”

The council defended its position and said it had only issued the notices against ovens it deemed unsafe and urged any restaurant unsure about its equipment to have it checked by a Corgi registered engineer.

Block said: “Every single oven we issued a prohibition notice against was unsafe, it was not merely a matter of having an EU safety mark. The legislation is for our own safety, and just as you would expect your gas boiler at home to be safe and not emit carbon monoxide, so should all gas appliances."

Preto, in London`s Wilton Road, re-opened on Saturday after it was declared safe. All diners taken to hospital were given the all-clear with just one remaining in hospital overnight for observation.

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