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A court has ordered Marwako Fast Food in Accra to pay over a million Ghana cedis in damages. The amount forms part of the reliefs awarded to three plaintiffs who took the company to court after the 2022 food poisoning saga.
The plaintiffs, who are siblings, are part of the victims of the June 2022 incident and were awarded GH₵345,000 each in general damages. Additionally, they will jointly receive special damages of GH₵25,215.48 and another GH₵10,000 to cover legal fees and litigation costs.
The trio, Winifred Tse, Rodger Bismark Tse, and Walter Tse, claimed they suffered abdominal pains and diarrhea after buying and consuming food from Marwako Fast Food on May 8, 2022. The eatery has reportedly already paid the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) ¢750,000 in fines.
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On May 12, 2022, the FDA closed down the East Legon branch of Marwako restaurant following widespread reports of food poisoning on social media. In a tweet, the FDA stated that the move to close down the restaurant was to enable the Authority to conduct investigations into customers’ complaints.
Subsequently, the FDA explained that based on its findings, the eatery failed to observe the appropriate sanitary practices, leading to widespread food poisoning, which reportedly affected customers.
The analyses of samples of food, some juice, and swabs taken from the environment at the East Legon branch of Marwako Fast Food Limited indicated that there was a heavy microbial load (pathogens) which may be linked to the foodborne disease reported.
Samples collected from the Abelenkpe and La branches were also found to be contaminated, and the levels of sanitation and hygiene in the food preparation areas in all three facilities were poor.
It was also established that there were poor storage practices, with temperatures of deep freezers and refrigerators far above the acceptable ranges. The handling practices of ingredients used in cooking, cooked, and ready-to-eat food items were also very poor.
During today’s proceeding, Marwako argued that the food bought by the first plaintiff should not be seen as contaminated despite an admission that some of the food discovered at its East Legon branch exhibited a heavy microbial load.
However, the court disagreed, adding that the suggestion was unreasonable.
