Court slaps Marwako with over GH₵1m in damages for 2022 food poisoning saga

Court slaps Marwako with over GH₵1m in damages for 2022 food poisoning saga

A popular Restaurant in Accra, Marwako Fast Food, has been ordered by court to pay over One million Ghana cedis in Damages for food poisoning.

The amount slapped on Marwako Fast Food is part of reliefs the court rewarded to three plaintiffs who sued the company after the 2022 food poisoning saga.

The plaintiffs involved in this case are 3  siblings, they are part of the victims of Marwako’s June 2022 food poisoning incident.

The Court has awarded each of these siblings GH₵345,000 each in general damages.

In addition, these siblings will jointly receive special damages of GH₵25, 215.48 and another GH₵10,000 to cover legal fees and litigation costs.

The siblings, Winifred Tse, Rodger Bismark Tse and Walter Tse, claim they suffered abdominal pains and diarrhea after buying and consuming food from the defendant, Marwako Fast Food on May 8, 2022.

Marwako Fast Food has already paid the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) ¢750,000 in fines.

On May 12, 2022, the Food And Drugs Authority shut down the East Legon branch of Marwako restaurant, following widespread reports of food poisoning on social media.

In an X tweet, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) addressed the general public on reasons why it decided to shut down the East Legon’s Marwako Fast Food Branch; citing that the shut down would enable the FDA to investigate customers complains of food poisoning from the company.

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In a follow up news, the FDA explained that based on its own findings, Marwako Fast Food failed to observe the appropriate sanitation practices in food preparation, leading to widespread food poisoning, which has led to complains from customers.

“Analyses of samples of food, some juice, and swaps taken from the environment at the East Legon branch of Marwarko Fast Food Limited indicate that there was heavy microbial load (pathogens) which may be linked to the foodborne disease reported.

Samples collected from the Abelenkpe and La branches were also found to be contaminated. The levels of sanitation and hygiene in the food preparation areas in all three facilities were poor”, portions of the press statement read.

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The FDA’s release continued: “It was also established that there were poor storage practices. The temperatures of deep freezers and refrigerators were far above the acceptable ranges. The handling practices of ingredients used in cooking, cooked and ready-to-eat food items were also very poor”.

In today’s hearing at the court proceedings, Marwako argued that the food bought by the first plaintiff should not be considered contaminated and poisonous despite the company’s admission that some of the food found at its East Legon Branch contained loads of microbial organisms.

In response to Marwako, the court disagreed adding that the suggestion is unreasonable.

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