The Public Relations Officer of Marwako Restaurant, Mohammed Amin Lamptey has said that, the company did not anticipate the alleged incidence of food poisoning by a section of its customers on social media.

“It is something that we actually never expected in our business as a company that deals with foods, drinkables and all that”, he said.

Speaking in an interview with Emefa Apawu on Joy FM‘s Midday News on Thursday, he explained that the company started receiving complaints on Monday, May 10, from customers who purchased food from their outlets on Saturday and Sunday.

Based on the complaints, Mr. Amin Lamptey said the company moved swiftly to the affected customers, some of whom were already receiving medical attention at various hospitals.

Touching on the actual cause of the incident, he stated that, the company is still conducting internal investigations, to accurately establish that.

He added that, the company is collaborating with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), to resolve the matter, and therefore called for the public’s support.

Mr. Amin Lamptey also stated that the company has taken responsibility to remedy the situation, which occurred only at the company’s East Legon branch.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)’s Acting Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs has explained that the closure of Marwako’s East Legon branch was to prevent an escalation of reported cases of food poisoning.

Mr. Joseph Beni said even though the Authority has not yet established the cause of the poisoning, the immediate shut down of the eatery is part of its routine procedure when such cases are reported.

He told Emefa Apawu on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday that the closure is a first step ahead of investigations into the widespread allegations on social media.

“You want to stem the tide; you don’t want to continue to let it spread further than you know. So the first prudent step is to close down the place and get your investigations ongoing.

“It was shut down so that we keep people off the premises and allow us to continue with the investigations,” he said.

Touching on the total number of customers who have been affected, Mr. Beni said the FDA is yet to make that assessment.

He stated that the FDA only moved to close the eatery on the back of the widespread claims on social media.

Mr. Beni, however, added that a team has been deployed by his outfit to find out what actually happened.

He further disclosed that the FDA has deployed its men to another branch of the restaurant, which he did not disclose.

Mr. Beni said after the team’s work, the Authority will be able to ascertain the actual cause of the alleged food poisoning, the total number of casualties and other relevant information.

He noted that even though the FDA cannot disclose when the eatery will be ordered to resume operations, it will clear the restaurant to start operations at the end of its investigations.

Regarding the duration of the investigations, he was unable to give a specific timeline.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) closed down the East Legon branch of Marwako restaurant following widespread reports of food poisoning on social media.

In a tweet on Thursday, the FDA stated that the move to close down the restaurant enables the Authority to conduct investigations into customers’ complaints.

“The FDA has taken notice of complaints from the public about the suspected food poisoning at the East Legon Branch of Marwarko Restaurant.

“We have closed down the restaurant and, together with other relevant agencies, started investigations”, the tweet said.