30 staff struck by food poisoning after eating at Eastern Hospital restaurants

Around 30 people have fallen victim to suspected food poisoning after eating at two restaurants inside Eastern Hospital.

The group of hospital staffers suffered abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting after consuming food from the two restaurants on Tuesday, and have all called in sick the following day.

The two restaurants have ceased operation today for disinfection. It is understood that the two restaurants were run by Asia Pacific Catering, a subsidiary of Cafe de Coral. The restaurants were not responsible for providing food to hospital patients.

A hospital staff member told reporters this morning that the food quality at the two restaurants varied with limited choice given their short lunch hours.

The staff also said the hospital has been assessing tenders of the restaurant service contracts according to the "lowest bid wins", with the operator having already been running the restaurants for years.

The hospital said it has since notified the Centre for Health Protection and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of the incident, and has instructed hospital staff to disinfect relevant facilities.