Featured Image Credit: Brent Hofacker/500px/Getty Images
Topics: Restaurants and bars
Ben Williams
A family meal at a restaurant is usually the sort of thing that passes without much thought once the plates are cleared, but one visit to an Italian spot in Perth ended up becoming something far more serious.
Marcus and Michele Lemin had been dining with their daughters, Hannah and Olivia, when what appeared to be an ordinary round of drinks quickly raised alarm bells. The pink liquid the girls had been given in the restaurant was meant to be cranberry juice, but it did not take long for everyone at the table to realise something was badly wrong.
The sisters were later taken to the hospital after allegedly being served insect repellent instead of juice at Miky’s Italian Fusion in Crawley, Australia, during a family meal in June 2024.
Hannah and Olivia, who were 12 and 11 at the time, reportedly spat the drink out almost immediately after tasting it.
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Michele told ABC: "My daughters just went to gulp it down, and they both spat the cranberry juice out and said, 'It's poisoned.' ... I said, 'Don't be silly,' and took the glass, and I went to gulp it down and then spat it out."
The incident escalated quickly, with Marcus going to the counter after smelling the liquid and asking the staff to show him the bottle. Michele claimed workers initially suggested it was simply old juice.
Marcus said: "He took the bottle [out of the fridge] and placed it under the counter. That's when I sort of said, 'No, you need to give me the bottle, I need to see what it is'."
It was later alleged that the children had been served a pink citronella torch and lamp oil solution, commonly used as an insect repellent, rather than cranberry juice.
Michele added: "We're lucky that the children weren't younger…If they were younger children that this happened to, I'd hate to think what would have happened."
Speaking in another account after the ordeal to The West Australian, Michele said: “My husband grabbed it and looked at it and he said ‘it’s citronella oil mixed with insect repellent — you’ve poisoned them.
“I was just focused on looking after my girls. The restaurant was full but I wasn’t even aware of anyone in the restaurant. It was like, ‘Oh my god’.
“The girls were crying. There was instant burning because they swallowed it. They spat some out but they had also swallowed it. I had swallowed it too and the taste was awful.”
The children were taken to the hospital for monitoring. They experienced headaches, burning sensations in their stomach, and tingling, and were observed for several hours before being discharged, and did not suffer permanent physical injury.
Following a Department of Health investigation, former owner Michele Angiuli was found guilty of selling unsafe food and failing to exercise due diligence. The business and its owner were fined a combined AUD $40,000 (US $28,000).
Outside court, Marcus said: "I think the issue for me is more that it drives a bit more rigour in the industry and that we get to a point where maybe business owners in the hospitality industry understand the accountabilities they hold."