A cook began preparing a beef casserole at 9am one morning. She gathered together beef, onions, carrots, and potatoes. She cut up the beef and put it to one side before scraping and chopping up the vegetables. She put all the ingredients in a large pot where they were brought to a simmer and then cooked for one hour. The pot was left to cool, on the stove, for the rest of the day.
Before the evening service the casserole was reheated in the same pot to what the cook described as “piping hot” and placed in a wet Bain Marie which had been turned on a few minutes before. The next morning several phone calls were received from diners who complained that they had become ill, suffering from vomiting, severe abdominal pains and diarrhoea.