If you have been subject to food poisoning then you’ll know how unpleasant and painful it can be. Depending on the type of virus you contracted from the poisoning you will undergo different types of symptoms. These can be vomiting, headaches, dizziness, you may even collapse depending on how severe the virus is. Whatever the virus, you should not be made to pay for a meal that caused you this unpleasantness.
ITV host Jim Rosenthal has taken chef Heston Blumenthal to court over a £1,300 meal which he claimed left him sick. The ITV presenter, who is well known for fronting the channel’s coverage of football and motor racing, was one of more than 500 guests who fell ill during the norovirus outbreak at the aware-winning Fat Duck last year.
District Judge Tim Parket initially said he was minded to dismiss Rosenthal’s claim at Oxford County Court after hearing he and his dinner companions had already received £6,000 compensation for pain suffered in the wake of that meal. However, after a successful legal argument from Rosenthal’s lawyer, the judge decided the battle for compensation would carry on into round two.
Rosenthal and his guests were struck down by jelly oysters served as part of a food and wine-tasting evening at the restaurant. The presenter and his wife, along with fellow friends, boxing promoter Frank Warren and other guests, spent a total of £1,346.33 in February last year. The oysters which made them ill had a market value of just 78p each, Rosenthal’s council said.
The party of five were among more than 500 diners who fell ill, forcing the two week closure of the three Michelin starred Fat Duck, in Bray, Berkshire. Rosenthal’s lawyer described the meal as a total failure, saying that the Fat Duck failed to provide their side of the bargain. He told the court that, ‘all claimants were violently unwell for several weeks, the meal was of a negative nutritional value and none of the other ingredients were of benefit…The meal failed to deliver the benefits the claimant paid for.’
He went on to explain, ‘nutritionally, it was as though they had paid for no meal at all. It was simply disappointing, they were left wishing that they had never had the meals. Put in graphic terms, they did not even keep the meals down. What is the value of a meal that is going to make you violently ill? It must be zero. No one is going to pay for a meal which is going to make them violently ill, so on that basis he is entitled to get the cost back.’
Jonathan Coad, representing the Fat Duck, said Rosenthal should not be refunded the full amount as he had already been compensated. ‘They have already paid for the pain and suffering inflicted on his guests,’ Mr Coad said.
It is understood several other parties are pursuing legal action against the restaurant, including another celebrity diner. If you have suffered illness from an outbreak of food poisoning in the last three years then you may be able to make a claim for compensation. To speak to a fully qualified solicitor and receive free legal advice, contact the Injury Lawyers.
