TV Chef's Restaurant Re-Opens After Food Scare

TV chef Heston Blumenthal (pictured here) has re-opened his award-winning restaurant more than two weeks after it closed because of an outbreak of a mystery illness.

Around 400 diners complained of feeling ill, after eating at The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire.

Blumenthal took the decision to shut his restaurant as a precaution after the diners complained they had been afflicted with stomach upsets after eating at his restaurant. He called in health inspectors, who gave the restaurant the all-clear after testing its kitchen and ingredients.

However, as a "precaution", the chef has taken all oysters, langoustine, mussels and other shellfish off the menu until the Government health watchdog concludes its investigation.

Environmental health officers and the Health Protection Association (HPA) have yet to reach a conclusion on the cause of the mystery illness.

The agency's investigation is likely to take several more weeks but that preliminary findings suggest it is safe to reopen the restaurant.

The Health Protection Agency said Fat Duck management agreed to comply with all the recommendations that environmental health officers made after conducting a risk assessment of the premises. However, it would not specify what the recommendations were.

"Preliminary findings....have informed the advice given so far, but the investigation is ongoing. So far no one source has been identified.

"The detailed questioning of people who reported illness is likely to continue for some weeks in order to build a more complete picture."

(JM/BMcC)