Nineteen people fall ill from Sunday lunch at Welsh pub

Multiple people have fallen ill from food poisoning after eating Sunday lunch at a Welsh pub.

According to the BBC, Torfaen Council investigated reports of customers feeling unwell after eating at the Cwrt Henllys bar and restaurant, in Cwmbran, on 5 October.

The council confirmed the cause of food poisoning was Clostridium perfringens, external, a bacteria which can grow while food cools down. It said there was no wider public risk.

In a post made yesterday (27 October) on Cwrt Henllys’ Facebook page, it stated: “We confirm that 19 people tested positive for a bacteria called Clostridium perfringens. This is indicative of a food positioning spore which can generate when a bacteria count is high from a supplier and can grow during a cooling down process after a meat is cooked thoroughly.”

The post added that the pub had around 200 diners on Sunday, which included 140 paying guests, staff and sports teams.

In a separate Facebook page belonging to Gwent & More, a Welsh events and news information page, it shared that one pregnant woman described being woken up in the middle of the night with stomach cramps so severe, she thought she was miscarrying, while another family claimed that eight out of the 13 who dined there fell ill.

The pub stated that it didn’t have “actual physical evidence of us being responsible”, and wrote that it was “pursuing a potential supplier issue as there has been a number of reported concerns of contaminated turkey”.

It wrote that it has made “positive changes to ensure that moving forwards there will never be a ‘cooling down’ period” and that food will go from oven to plate straight away.