Heston Blumenthal on the Fat Duck food poisoning scare

Heston Blumenthal talks to Matthew Fort about the food poisoning scare that closed the Fat Duck, and what next for the restaurant

[@dreamnade]

It really wasn't Heston's fault; his shellfish suppliers sent him batches with norovirus in them. They were served raw, and the suppliers were quite reputable, so Heston got the worst end of the deal, and had to spend a ton of money on disinfecting.

[@CooManTunes]

Norovirus vs. Coronavirus. Round one. FIGHT!

[@roryroryroryy]

Heston seems like a really cool, genuine guy.

[@lass-inangeles7564]

So sorry to hear that! It could happen to anyone or anywhere. Heston's kitchens are much cleaner than my own I'm sure. A person with such rigorous self-discipline would have every safety protocol in place. I would not hesitate to eat at any of his restaurants.

[@imari2305]

If I ever be blessed to go to England I would love to dine at the Fat Duck. Heston I pray everything goes well and your restaurant will reopen soon. God bless you.

[@sheamas88]

@lexichronicle2 Please point me to the recipe that Heston recommends to cook to only 50C, because I have yet to hear of one that is only cooked to 50C that should be cooked more. His chicken is only cooked to 60C but that is a safe temperature as long as the meat is held at that temperature for sufficient time. The steak he cooks is only 50C but he still cooks the outer surface properly. If you go to any restaurant they will serve you a steak rare or blue so how is his any different?

[@mnthol]

I respect this man a lot ..

[@turbobanana]

Well if you knew anything at all, which you don't, you would know that it turned out to be oysters that had a norovirus. They came from an area of Britain that was discovered to be pumping sewage into the ocean, so you can't blame the restaurant when no manner of hygiene practices will prevent illness from a freshly shucked raw oyster that came polluted ocean waters.

[@lefthandright01]

They traced the infection in the end. It came from the workers in the kitchen. If you have never spend time in an establishment like this, often there is a paid brigade in the kitchen and an unpaid brigade. The pressure to be at work, on time each day is enormous. I don't blame Heston himself, because ultimately he was trained in the same environment. The worker comes to work with a simple cough or sniffle and then works 10-12 hour days and runs themselves down further. The infection then begins to spread among the 18-24 other workers. Before you know it, 60% of the staff have it. When you add to the equation recipes that cook chicken at 60 degrees for 4.5 hours...well, viral infections are going to survive conditions similar to this. It is one thing to look closely at the methods and techniques and to over look the worker well being itself. Ultimately as the business owner, he is where the buck stops. The kitchen itself has developed an unhealthy work culture, which ultimately affected the end product despite numerous checks and balances being taken to prevent contamination.

[@gailwillis5198]

Sous vide is deadly with things like chicken and shellfish. Well said.

[@martindales3114]

That is certainly not overlooked now. It is also a credit to his character he closed and dealt with the problem. A lot of lesser places would have kept on going putting more people at risk.

[@chrish12345]

sorry I don't get this thing of the paid/non-paid brigades - what does that mean and how does it relate to this issue?

[@jaijeffcom]

3:36 -- "We put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this." THERE'S the problem!

[@jimmypopkablooey]

No way it was dodgy oysters, because I've smelt dodgy oysters before. They wouldn't make it past my nose to a table and I can only assume Blumenthal can spot them as good or better than me.

[@samsolitaryroll]

This was 4 years ago, I think the Fat Duck is already reopened

[@oopopp]

It was the Waterside Inn, those Roux brothers are a tricky lot!

[@anthonymiller9315]

I'm with you Heston, it wasn't your fault!!

[@MrStonecold69]

Mushroom What the hell are you talking about? How is it spin? Heston is a world famous 3 star chef His restaurant is fully booked up even though there is a recession He does not need the publicity

[@choo1030]

hard to imagine such a famed restaurant like Fat Duck to make that kind of gaffe

[@monicuchitis22]

when this happened?

[@megansloan2996]

The slow cooked food methods are just a bomb waiting to go off !!! Cooking in water baths at 63oc and beef cooked for days at 56 0c your just asking for it !!!!

[@mathamore]

100000% agreed........disguise vegetarians?????

[@paulwestlondon]

Was that an apology?

[@Longboardsinglefin]

Poor people! Spent a 100 quid a head to have their egos pampered - and spent a month wearing Pampers! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! There is a God!

[@flappospammo]

i agree heston is a fastidious genius

[@pat4281]

1second either way from disaster or absolute perfection....Fine line Heston

[@WabeWalker100]

Wait a minute... snail porridge? Just the sound of that makes me ill.

[@YouGoomba]

This Heston fellow doesn't desrve his publicity. I'd rather eat a cow dung sandwhich without the bread.

[@filmationnation9612]

maybe a chef was ill, and didn't want to tell him... for whatever reason... and thus contaminated foods. I mean, I don't believe for a second that this is because of Heston or his method of running his restaurant - it's more likely that it originated from a supplier.

[@Epilepticchefproductions]

Before COVID, chefs were expected to work sick. Because the restaurant only hired a certain amount of staff to cover their budget.

[@Mercur1c]

Sushi is raw food...

[@Saffrone221]

Probably anthrax with a hint of lilac lol

[@LambyMcChop]

Well, that's what you get when you cook this crazy stuff. People aren't meant to eat Egg & Bacon Icecream, everyone knows that.

[@pandaeyes42]

I reckon it was one of the pissed off kitchen hands!

[@mushroom2you]

more than one i would say...

[@filmationnation9612]

Some of them already have a quick food restaurant... Jamie or Gordon have restaurant in Heathrow Airport with fast food options - but it's high quality versions of the classic things like burgers and fried chicken... so fast food doesn't have to be shit, like it is at mcdonalds and so on. that's the point they're trying to make a lot of the time, too, in their tv shows. Using good beef and fresh veg to make a burger doesn't equal a shit fast food burger.

[@shadowblade9876]

Bad oysters! No-one at the Fat Duck's fault - difficult to detect oysters harbouring the virus.

[@filmationnation9612]

shit happens - suppliers send you shit because they wanna make money and don't care, and you end up getting the flack for it.

[@lisabudd5979]

Wheres gordan ramsey he will check out the kitchen .😁Closing for a week is nothing to him not at the price of his meals ... Tells you what you want to hear and reopens as nomal . Should of got gorden Ramsay 🔥🤬on the case lol 😂😂👍

[@timg455]

I figured this would happen with these fancy restaurants barely cooking their food.

[@CooManTunes]

@@lass-inangeles7564 Wait, wait, wait. You say it's clean, then you go on to say that kitchen staff could be blamed for the bugs. LOL! Well, is it clean, or isn't it? If the kitchen staff are to blame, then it isn't clean, evidently. Perhaps, somebody forgot to refill the hand soap in the bathroom?

[@ryand141]

How do you explain sushi and steak tartare to yourself? It's raw, you donkey.

[@jimmypopkablooey]

The great Heston Blumenthal sunk by a shiesty supplier... Figures. Hope it never happens to me

[@mushroom2you]

This is spin and only spin by HB If he did not close they would have closed him down anyway Fair ..yes.. The reports that it ran in to 100s of people that got sick over 32 weeks well even if it was 5 is to many you cant fuck with food to much every day that is HB it not there every day more like 10 in 30 daysI think there is no supplier thing we all know what happens in kitchens shit happens...he still tops tho..

[@pat4281]

@NewportCoastCA what Asian country? What supplier? you really have no idea mate, your just pissed off

[@watertothepeople]

WHAT!?! You, for not eating raw food, are obviously missing out on a whole world..no.. a whole universe of amazing food ..I am very sorry for you! "bon appétit!" on your cup noodles!

[@MrDaale]

@liopleurodon17 You make a very good point, but your grammar is absolutely diabolical.

[@SuperGiselle999]

Sabotage!!!

[@obar111]

LOL

[@davidlegg1034]

Play nice children

[@madisonelectronic]

He even shaved his head to get rid of the cooties. hahahahahahahaha

[@crazycool1128]

all that liquid nitrogen shit is bound to make someone vomit

[@kazisiddiqui6435]

100% certified A grade bullshit

[@marquez2390]

Air is 78% nitrogen

[@angelusnielson7135]

Aww.. someone jealous?

[@mcerocc]

well how can you explain that every 130 million years the earth experiences an "ice age"? Would that be considered climate change?

[@jamezz34]

dont start saying oo every restaurant has a time when bullshit....keep the cat food in the tin next time