Nurse finds mouse head in her food

The health authorities have launched an investigation after a nurse at Mater Dei Hospital reported finding the head of a mouse in her food.

The nurse found the remains while eating in the staff canteen on Monday.

"We are expecting actions to be taken against the contractor and want to know what safeguards will be taken in the future," the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses Paul Pace said yesterday.

The Health Division said hospital management took immediate action to launch investigations, with public health inspectors going on site to verify facts and draw up the first reports.

Papillon Caterers, which supplies meals for hospital staff, said it had destroyed all the stock furnished by the particular supplier, terminated all ties with him and was seeking legal advice as to what action it could take.

"The contractor is completely confident that the incident did not arise in-house," the Health Division said, adding that local health inspectors, who were conducting an inspection at the canteen, found the contractor and the kitchen to be up to scratch and complying with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) catering standards required by EU legislation. The canteen and kitchen also passed quality control.

When contacted, Papillon Caterers' managing director John Buttigieg at first questioned the newsworthiness of the incident, although he was later helpful and answered all questions.

Mr Buttigieg said the caterer - which supplies the staff meals - uses the HACCP system, which is "foolproof". The system is an internationally-recognised way of managing food safety and protecting consumers. He said the "object" probably was with the imported frozen vegetables.

The health authorities said the vegetables were imported frozen from Belgium after being processed and packed in Holland and, since the item seems to have originated from abroad, they informed the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed to recall the batch from the European market and investigate it.

Moreover, the local inspectorate has contacted the supplier and sealed the packages from the same delivery.

Mr Buttigieg said the caterer serves about 600 people daily and this was a one-off case. Moreover, the contract with the vegetables supplier has been terminated.

A similar incident occurred in Finland earlier this year when a hospital patient found a mouse head among the steamed vegetables on his plate. An article on ABC News website said the severed head had most likely originated in a bag of Belgian vegetables.