The Fat Duck complaints rise to 400

Complaints of sickness and diarrhoea from people having eaten at The Fat Duck have now reached 400, forcing Heston Blumenthal to close the restaurant for yet another weekend.

Blumenthal first closed The Fat Duck on February 23 when 40 people complained of sickness after eating at the Bray restaurant, named by Restaurant magazine as one of the best in the world.

Blumenthal called in the Windsor Environmental Health Department who, after a series of tests, ruled out food poisoning and suspected a non-specific virus as the culprit.

But since the media covered the outbreak 400 people have come forward complaining of sickness, and while each individual case is investigated by the Health Protection Agency Blumenthal must remain closed for a second weekend at an estimated loss of £100k.

Dr Graham Bickler, regional director of the HPA South East region, said the outbreak was ‘very complex.’

“We are working closely with the restaurant and with colleagues in the Royal Borough’s Environmental Health team to explain what happened and to ensure that the risks of it happening again are reduced as much as possible.”

A spokesperson for The Fat Duck said they had no idea when the results of testing ‘every single individual’ would come back, and could not foresee the reopening of the restaurant within the next few days at least.

“We have no idea what the problem is - it’s a blank piece of paper at the moment. We just have to wait until these results come back.”

Blumenthal has said he is ‘deeply upset’ by the situation, claiming he is ‘as fastidious about hygiene’ as he is about food.

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