Fifteen people recently fell sick in Hong Kong after eating vanilla-flavored ice cream in restaurants.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said the incident involved three restaurants in the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong hotel: Grand Café, Grissini, and One Harbour Road.

There are nine males and six females aged between 3 and 42. At least six are children. They all ate vanilla ice cream in the hotel in early June. They developed abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea about 15 to 65 hours after consuming the implicated food.

Four of them required hospitalization and were discharged after treatment. All patients are in stable condition.

Stool specimens of six affected people were positive for Salmonella upon laboratory testing. Four Salmonella isolates belong to the same group of Salmonella Enteritidis.

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) and the Environmental Hygiene Branch of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) inspected the premises and ice cream production kitchen. Production and sale of implicated food were suspended, and cleaning and disinfection were carried out.

So far, no Salmonella has been found in ice cream, vanilla oil, environmental samples, or staff stool samples.

FEHD will review the investigation and initiate prosecution against the site if there is sufficient evidence.

Other outbreaks

In another incident, CHP is investigating an outbreak that has sickened nine people linked to a restaurant located in The Kimberley Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Eight women and one man are sick. They are aged between 7 and 82 and fell ill after having a buffet at the same restaurant of the hotel. Patients consumed different types of food, including cold seafood platters and desserts.

Seven patients sought medical advice, and three required hospitalization. After lab testing, one patient’s stool specimen was positive for Salmonella. 

After an inspection at the food premises, FEHD officials said the hygiene conditions were “unsatisfactory” and ordered a thorough cleaning and disinfection. Issues included no separation of raw and cooked food during storage, and refrigerators’ temperature did not reach 4 degrees C (33.8 degrees F) or below. Operations were suspended, and business will only resume upon a positive review by the FEHD.

CHP is also looking into an outbreak with eight people ill after eating at a restaurant in Mong Kok.

Five are women, and three are men aged 17 to 49. Four cases sought medical advice, but none needed hospitalization, and all are in stable condition.

Initial investigations by the CHP revealed that the affected people had all consumed grilled oysters and lamb skewers. Due to poor cooking, the incident is suspected to have been caused by norovirus and/or Salmonella.

The restaurant has been told to suspend the sale of related food as well as carry out cleaning and disinfection of the premises.

Earlier this month, four people fell sick in a Ciguatera poisoning case.

Four females aged between 17 and 77 developed symptoms of ciguatoxin poisoning, including limb weakness, numbness, and diarrhea, about four to 15 hours after consuming fish at home. Two people were admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Officials found that the fish was bought from a stall at a market in Cheung Sha Wan.

“Most people affected by ciguatoxin will recover without long-term health effects, but the circulatory and nervous systems can be affected if excessive toxins are consumed. The toxin cannot be destroyed by cooking,” said a CHP spokesman.