Beetroot salad a suspect in Cathay food poisoning scare

The Centre for Health Protection has ordered Cathay Pacific to cease distributing beetroot salad on board after a cluster of suspected food poisoning cases continued to grow, affecting 36 passengers so far.

The center previously suspected that the food poisoning was caused by chicken, cucumber and tomato sandwiches consumed by the passengers before they boarded the plane, irrelevant to the food provided on the Cathay flight.

However, the number of affected individuals continued to increase over two days, with 20 of the 36 people not having consumed the same batch of sandwiches before boarding. 

Health officials later inspected the supplier of Cathay’s inflight meal, with preliminary findings suggesting that the storage temperature and methods for the food were appropriate.

Yet, the Center noted that the beetroot salad involved more manual handling processes and did not require reheating before consumption. As a precautionary measure, the Center has instructed Cathay to halt the supply of the food item.

The investigation is still underway and the CHP has collected the food samples served in flight for testing.

It also called on people who were onboard the flight operated by CX (flight number: CX640) from Kathmandu, Nepal, to Hong Kong on January 8 and 9 to call the CHP hotline (2125 2372) for follow-up and medical surveillance.

Cathay said Friday that it is cooperating with CHP and the relevant authorities in their investigations regarding the two suspected food poisoning cases on flights from Kathmandu to Hong Kong on January 7 and 8.

"Should any food contamination be found to originate from the airline’s inflight meals, we will report the findings truthfully and transparently and take all necessary corrective actions," it said in a statement."We sincerely apologise to the affected customers for any inconvenience caused."

(Updated at 9.27 pm)

Read more: 25 Cathay passengers on two Nepal flights report suspected food poisoning