The whole kitchen staff at the Corradino Correctional Facility was replaced after a salmonella outbreak earlier this month, executive officer Simon Buttigieg told the Times of Malta.

About 20 inmates sought medical attention two weeks ago after contracting food poisoning.

An inspection by the health authorities concluded that hot summer temperatures and poor kitchen hygiene were behind the poisoning outbreak.

Mr Buttigieg said he had reviewed the prison’s catering facilities. “I was not happy with the way things were being done and this was the last straw. “We have made a lot of improvements.”

The prison has employed two new chefs, both of whom graduated from the Institute of Tourism Studies, Mr Buttigieg added.

I was not happy with the way things were being done

The poor food and sanitary conditions in the prison kitchen led a group of inmates to hold a hunger strike last week. About 15 inmates refused to eat their lunch after they found dinner “disgusting”.

Mr Buttigieg said the prison administration had since received a letter from the inmates, thanking it for taking into consideration their complaints about prison food. The letter, seen by this newspaper, is signed by inmates in the prison’s Division 12 and thanks Mr Buttigieg for improving the catering at the facility.

This was not an isolated case and Mr Buttigieg said prisoners often wrote to the administration.

“This normally happens when there is an issue affecting a group of inmates, so they join together and write,” he said, adding he recently also received a letter about a faulty shower.