Health

Owner of Bordeaux wine bar takes ‘responsibility’ for botulism outbreak, lawyer says

Woman (32) died and several others fell seriously ill after eating at Tchin Tchin in southern French city

The Tchin Tchin wine bar in Bordeaux, where the botulsim outbreak is said to have started

Sarah Slater
Mon Sep 18 2023 - 13:13

The owner of a Bordeaux wine bar, which saw customers caught up in a recent botulism outbreak after eating contaminated sardines, takes “responsibility” for what occurred, his lawyer has told French media.

A woman died and several others, including some Irish rugby supporters, fell ill after eating at the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar in the city’s old town earlier this month.

The public prosecutor’s office in Bordeaux has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter. The results of tests released last Friday found the presence of type B botulism in a sardine dish served at the wine bar and the blood of several customers.

A 30-year-old Co Mayo man who was in Bordeaux Ireland’s opening Rugby World Cup game, held on September 9th, has been in a French intensive care unit for the past several days after eating at the bar.

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His wife, a 32-year old orginially from Greece, died last Tuesday after falling ill after consuming the sardines. Preliminary results from a post mortem examination show she died from asphyxia, which is compatible with botulinic acid poisoning. Toxicology results from her body are still awaited, according to the newspaper Sud Ouest.

Several other Irish rugby fans have also reported falling unwell after eating at the wine bar between September 4th and 10th.

‘Will assume responsibility’

Stéphane Guitard, the lawyer acting on behalf of the bar owner, told Sud Ouest that his client “will assume responsibility and remains available to investigators” regarding the outbreak.

Mr Guitard said his client has worked with the Departmental Offices for the Protection of Populations (DDPP) to find the customers who consumed the sardines.

“His priority is to ensure that there are no other patients, that those who are hospitalised return to their previous lives and he is of course thinking of the family who lost a 32-year-old loved one,” he told the French newspaper.

Awaiting expert conclusions

The lawyer said he and his client “are awaiting the conclusions of the experts” investigating the matter.

Cases of botulism were initially noted in the emergency room at Bordeaux’s Pellegrin Hospital on September 9th. Botulism, a serious neurological condition caused by a poisonous toxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, is fatal in some 5 to 10 per cent of cases.

Public Health France announced that the bacteria in question was found in the sardine dish served at Tchin Tchin wine bar. A number of people connected to the outbreak are continuing to receive hospital treatment in Bordeaux and Paris as well as in Spain and England.

Under French law, the bar owners could face a jail term of between three and five years and/or fines of between €45,000 and €60,000.

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