A CATERING company has been closed until further notice after a food poisoning outbreak was traced back to its shop.

Chocolate mousse from Marc Cooper Catering, of Whitefield, has been blamed for the infection which has hit more than 100 people and put four in hospital.

The Bury Old Road kosher deli was closed after tests revealed the dessert contained the salmonella enteridis bug, probably from the raw eggs used in its production.

According to Mr Cooper the mousse was made in the same way as the firm has always made it. In a statement he said: "Some 3,500 eggs were delivered from our usual supplier who is a government-approved egg merchant.

"We used 600 eggs to produce 56 bowls of mousse, breaking and separating each egg and discarding any which contained blood spots according to normal strict procedure.

"The environmental health department has informed us that just one egg out of 600 could have contaminated the whole mix."

Mr Cooper has worked with the department to trace 75 per cent of the bowls of mousse and said: "We would like the remaining 25 per cent of customers to let us know if there have been any ill effects.

"We are extremely distressed that even one person should fall ill and we wish anybody affected by the mousse to make a speedy recovery."

The dessert was served at a number of family celebrations to mark the Jewish festival of Passover last week.

Those hit by the infection suffered vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches and a high temperature.

Mr Alan Freer, from environmental health, said: "We are unable to comment on the outbreak as we are currently in the middle of a full investigation."

The inquiry will trace back the mousse's "food chain" in an attempt to pin down the origins of the bug.

Dr Kevin Snee, from the department of public health at Bury and Rochdale Health Authority, warned against using raw eggs and said: "We know that eggs can carry salmonella and although it's a relatively small problem it's best to be careful. Cooking eggs until the yoke is hard kills off the salmonella. If you use raw eggs in food then you do so at you own risk. It would be better to use dried eggs as a substitute."

If raw eggs are used then simple hygiene measures should be taken:

Keep food cool and don't leave out of the fridge.

Eat food as quickly as possible after preparation.

If preparing a large amount of food then make it in small batches.

Wash all cooking utensils thoroughly.

A spokesman from Bury and Rochdale Health Authority said if anyone still had chocolate mousse bought from the shop after April 20, it should be thrown away.

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